September 2008 | Connections

The ASC X12 committees' and subcommittees' trimester meeting accomplishments leave a lasting business value impact.

Learn the specific objectives, accomplishments and industry influence of groups such as the X12N (Insurance) and X12M (Supply Chain) from the June 2008 trimester meeting in New Orleans, LA.

To learn more about the purpose and scope of each X12 subcommittee and task group, visit www.x12.org, and click on the "Committees/Groups" tab in the red banner at the top of the page.

Visit the "Steering Committee Task Groups" tab to see details about the new Business Development Task Group and Technical Advisory Task Group.

Learn more about Context-Inspired Component Architecture (CICA), and let us bring the training to you! This online webinar is the perfect introduction to CICA. During this webinar, attendees will learn what CICA is, the history, the value of CICA, an overview of the architecture, resources and the CICA approval process.

The session is free to all employees of any X12 member company, and non-members can receive the training for just $50.

This primer course is also ideal for those taking the full day course at the X12 trimester meeting. Register now at www.x12.org/webinars, or e-mail pscheyer@disa.org.

The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) released the much-anticipated Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for the adoption of Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 version 005010 transactions enhancements, pertaining to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) transactions.

The new ASC X12 version 005010 standard is key in the use of the larger International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) for diagnosis codes and also the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) for inpatient hospital procedures, proposed under the new rule.

"We applaud the work of the X12 Health Care group ( X12N/TG2), which has succeeded in identifying detailed transaction improvements and making another critically important step in moving towards administrative simplification. The 005010 version of the messages will reduce the need for companion guides and simplify implementation," said Dan Kazzaz, ASC X12 Chair.

Under the updated transaction standards proposed rule, compliance with ASC X12 version 005010 would be required by April 1, 2010, according to HHS. This rule affects HIPAA-covered entities, such as health plans, health care clearinghouses and health care providers.

Comments on the updated, proposed 005010 transaction standards are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time, October 21, 2008, and comments on the proposed ICD-10 code sets rule are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time, October 21, 2008.

In response to the federal government's 2008 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), to name 005010 replacements to the existing 004010A1 HIPAA mandate, X12 launched a new website for the sale of these 005010 counterparts: http://store.x12.org

"The X12 Health Care group ( X12N/TG2) is to be commended on achieving a consensus on the intricacies of the administrative transactions. X12's Secretariat, the Data Interchange Standards, is to be commended for offering the implementation guides on the X12 website," said Dan Kazzaz, Chair of ASC X12. "The implementation guides represent over four years of refinement, based on the collective input from hundreds of industry stake holders. Careful analysis of what worked well with the initial 004010A1 implementation along with answers to the tough questions posed by those charged with that implementation has produced significant improvement over the originally mandated materials."

The Implementation Guides, known as Technical Reports Type 3 (TR3s), may be purchased individually or as a suite for a modest price at www.X12.org. Once a Final Rule is published, pricing is subject to change and may include a discount for X12 members.

A series of educational webinars presented by the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 were well-received by participants preparing to respond to the federal government's anticipated Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to modify mandated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) transactions.

The webinars, organized by X12's Insurance subcommittee's HIPAA Implementation Coordination work group, are part of an outreach campaign designed to address changes resulting from the NPRM and detail how the implementation of X12 version 005010 transactions, proposed for adoption under HIPAA, address industry-requested requirements.

The twelve transactions embodied in the webinars include:

• 270/271: Health Care Eligibility Benefit Inquiry and Response
• 276/277: Health Care Claim Status Request and Response
• 278: Services Review Request for Review/Response
• 834/820: Benefit Enrollment and Maintenance/Payroll Deducted and Other Premium Payment
• 835: Health Care Claim Payment/Advice
• 837: Health Care Claim: Professional, Institutional, Dental

Internet-playback recordings of each webinar are still available at www.x12.org/webinars.

Feedback from the series' participants was positive, and includes comments such as: "This has been a comprehensive overview of significant industry changes," "I've found the key to keeping current with HIPAA modifications," and "Fantastic resources to reference in the coming months."

"We are eager to provide the health care community with specific examples illustrating the global changes that will affect all related transactions, including technical and structural modifications," said ASC X12 Chair, Dan Kazzaz.

An informational forum for the ASC X12N Personal Health Record Transfer Between Health Plans (275) Implementation Guide (005050X274) will be held on September 23, 2008 at 9 a.m. at the X12 Trimester meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.

This guide has been developed by X12N TG2/WG9, which is the Patient Information Transactions work group within the Health Care task group of the Insurance Subcommittee of X12. X12 is an Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) under ANSI (American National Standards Institute).

At the informational forum, the Project Delegate will review comments received during the public review period and the work group's responses to them. This is the final opportunity to discuss the modifications made in response to the public review comments before the guide is published.

Discussion at the forum will focus on the comments made during the Public Review Period, not new requests for changes. If significant changes are requested at the informational forum and the work group decides they should be included in the guide, the work group will rework the guide and the review process will be repeated.

Please review the public review comments and associated work group responses before attending the informational forum. Public review comments and associated work group responses can be found at: http://www.wpc-edi.com/conferences/tg2/implementationguides. The draft implementation guide is available for download at: http://www.wpc-edi.com/products/publications/x274.

For more information, contact Mary Bushman at Mary.Bushman@Empireblue.com.

Sean Feeney of Inovis and Mike Sadiwnyk of GS1 Canada join DISA Board of Directors

The Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) announced the election of new members to sit on its Board of Directors. New Board members include Sean Feeney, President and CEO, Inovis, and Michael Sadiwnyk, Senior Vice President, GS1 Canada.

The DISA Board of Directors officers include:

• Chair: Byron Warren, Syscom Strategies, Inc
• Vice Chair: Stephen Bouchard, Office of Comptroller of Maryland
• Treasurer: Sean Feeney, Inovis, Inc.
• Secretary: Paul Lockart, nuBridges
• Ex-Officio Director, Dan Kazzaz, Rapid Data Integration, LLC and ASC X12 Chair
• Jerry Connors, DISA President, Non-Voting Director

For the 2008-2010 term, Mr. Feeney and Mr. Sadiwynk will join incumbent members Jonathan Lyon, Federation of Tax Administrators; Wayne Marshall, EDI Specialists, Inc.; Roger Trout, Roger Trout Consulting and Byron Warren, Syscom Strategies, Inc.

Continuing Board members for the 2007-2009 term are Gary Beatty, EC Integrity, Inc.; Debra Cimbala, Remington Arms Company; Tom Conway, American Dental Association; Lissa Henderson-Lucht, CACI, Inc.; Ken Hutcheson, CIDX; Julie Klapstein, Availity, LLC and Jill Klein, Kogood School of Business, American University.

Ahoy! Make your reservations now for a private evening cruise on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 for X12 attendees and their guests on the Golden Clipper riverboat fleet. Tour the three rivers surrounding Pittsburgh on the 1½ to 2 hour cruise. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served, and drinks from a cash bar are available.

The Golden Clipper (www.gatewayclipper.com) has three decks: two are climate-controlled, and the top deck is an open observation deck. The vessel departs from a dock that is a 10 minute walk from the Omni.

The cost is $35 per person. Payments may be made credit card or check. Checks should be made payable to DISA and sent to ATTN: Diane Huber, DISA, 7600 Leesburg Pike, Ste. 430, Falls Church, VA 22043. For credit cards, include the card type, number, expiration date and full name on card. You can also contact Diane at (703) 970-2057 or dhuber@disa.org.

The Data Interchange Standards Association announced the winners of the 2008 Edward A. Guilbert e-Business Professional Award and the Earl J. Bass e-Business Achievement Award.

Since 1991, DISA has awarded the Guilbert Award, recognizing significant career contributions in e-business message development, as the highest level of recognition bestowed upon a professional who demonstrates outstanding lifetime leadership in the e-business standards field.

The award is named in honor of Edward A. Guilbert, who served as a logistics officer during the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and later created the first system to exchange data electronically. Nominees are evaluated on their scope, duration and quality of service towards the advancement of e-business and electronic data interchange (EDI) standards.

The 2008 Guilbert Award is granted to Peter Randlev, who retired from IBM as a Senior Engineer - Manager, after 50 years of service there. Highlights of Mr. Randlev's career include his work to patent attaching a keyboard to a computer and developing security systems and for his role in creating the IBM Model 5275, a unit for numerically controlled machine tools. Mr. Randlev is the principal developer of numerous X12 transactions and has also made contributions in the international standards arena. He also served as chairman of the X12 Product Data subcommittee for five years.

The Bass Award honors outstanding achievements and leadership in support of e-business message development using EDI standards and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) messages during the past year.

The award recognizes Earl ("Buddy") J. Bass, the principal author of the first EDI standards manuals and the simple, coded syntax notes and terminology used to describe conditional data element requirements within segments. Nominees are assessed based on their achievements and leadership in the development and use of EDI standards and XML messages over the past year.

The 2008 Bass Awards recipients are David Feinberg, a nationally known healthcare leader in X12 and HIPAA standards, and Terry Garber, who has dedicated over twenty years of her professional career towards developing more than a dozen EDI transaction sets for X12, including 813 Electronic Filing of Tax Return Data, and the XML format in the Modernization of Electronic Filing for business and individual tax return submissions in the United States with both Federal and State Governments.

In the past year, Mr. Feinberg, President of Rensis Corporation, has worked collaboratively with X12, Health Level 7 (HL7) and health plans on the development of new plan-to-plan personal health record standards, including data portability between health plans. He is known as an excellent EDI resource and educator.

Ms. Garber, Manager of New Application Development, Information Resource Management Division, South Carolina Department of Revenue, has served as the central state coordinator for the rollout of the IRS-modernized Federal/State 1120 Corporate, the 1065 Partnership and the 1040 Individual Income e-File Programs, using standards developed under Ms. Garber's leadership of a task group including states, IRS, tax software developers, and tax services providers. Ms. Garber is highly visible in the nationwide Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) Registration System, designed to simplify tax filing for thousands of businesses, and authored standard SST XML schemas necessary to implement streamlined registration, filing, payment and audit procedures.

"We are honored to recognize these individuals whose dedicated commitment to advances in the X12 industry have such a profound impact on the efficiency of global data exchange," said Jerry Connors, President, DISA. These prestigious awards will be presented at the ASC X12 Fall 2008 meeting, September 21 - 26, 2008 in Pittsburgh, PA.

ASC X12 Steering Committee

• X12 Chair: Daniel I. Kazzaz, Rapid Data Interchange
• X12 Vice Chair: Gary Beatty, Individual Member
• X12 Communications & Controls Chair: Kris Olberg, Emdeon Corporation
• X12 Finance Chair: Candace C. Marton, MasterCard Worldwide
• X12 Government Chair: Stephen Bouchard, State of Md./Comptroller’s Office
• X12 Insurance Chair: Margaret Weiker*, EDS, an HP Company
• X12 Supply Chain Chair: Steven Rosenberg*, GS1 US
• X12 Technical Assessment Chair: Verna Schultz, Railinc
• X12 Transportation Chair: Doug Anderson, Kleinschmidt
• Collaboration & Outreach Task Group Chair: Lenel James, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
• Marketing Task Group Chair: John Mecke, EasyLink Services International Corporation
• Policies & Procedures Task Group Chair: Peter D. Pruyne, SysCom Strategies
• Business Development Task Group: Jonathan Gatrell, Inovis, Inc.
• Technical Advisory Task Group: Mike Rawlins, Inovis, Inc.

Please visit www.x12.org and the "Subcommittees" tab for details on the focus of each group.
* Indicates a recent change in leadership

ASC X12 Secretariat

• DISA Board of Director Chair: Byron Warren, SysCom Strategies
• DISA Board of Director Vice Chair: Stephen Bouchard, State of Md. /Comptroller’s Office
• DISA President: Jerry Connors

Reminder
Mark your calendar!
Comments on the 005010 NPRM transaction standards are due by 5 p.m. EDT, October 21, 2008.

New ASC X12 Members

A warm welcome to these new members*

• Argus Health Systems
• Aurora Technologies
• Daniel Saunders, IM
• DeltaWare Systems Inc.
• Harvard Medical School
• National Association of Chain Drug Stores
• MEDI-K Corporation
• Reassure Technologies International
• Robert Schroeder, I.M.
• Transconex, Inc.

Welcome, returning ASC X12 members*

• AIM Healthcare Services
• California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development
• Kentucky Dept of Revenue
• Kraft Foods Global, Inc.
• Magellan Behavioral Health
• Ohio Department of Job & Family Services
• Robert Davis, IM
• The SSI Group Inc.
• SecurOrigins, Inc.

ASC X12 Calendar

• September 17 CICA 101 Webinar
• September 21-26 ASC X12 Meeting, OMNI Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh
• October 17 Deadline for Submission of Code Maintenance Requests (CMRs); Deadline for Submitting Agenda Items & Work Requests for TAS Interim Meeting
• December 8-11 Technical Assessment Subcommittee Interim Meeting

Acronym Key

• CICA: ("SEE-suh") Context Inspired Component Architecture, ASC X12 framework for developing reusable syntax-neutral components expressed in XML or future standards formats.
• HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
• NPRM: Notice of Proposed Rule Making

This newsletter is published three times per year, in-between X12trimester meetings, by the Data Interchange Standards Association, 7600 Leesburg Pike, Suite 430,Falls Church, VA 22043 and is issued to its members, free of charge.

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide members with information regarding ASC X12 issues and trends. Visit http://www.x12.org/x12org/connections to see archived issues. All communications and ideas are welcomed. Address correspondence to "Editor" at info@disa.org. The deadline for submitting copy to the editor for the next newsletter is November 1, 2008.

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