Many office-based physicians are not preparing to convert to the HIPAA 5010 transaction standards, partially because they are relying on their claims clearinghouses to handle the transition, according to a new report from research firm KLAS, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 12/16).
Background
HIPAA 5010 standards regulate the transmission of certain health care transactions among hospitals, physician practices, health plans and claims clearinghouses.
Converting to the HIPAA 5010 standards is seen as key to the larger switch from the ICD-9 clinical coding system to the ICD-10 system.
Last month, CMS announced that it would wait until March 31, 2012, to begin enforcing compliance with the HIPAA 5010 standards, but that the compliance date would remain Jan. 1, 2012 (iHealthBeat, 11/17).
Report Details
For the report, KLAS surveyed more than 800 health care providers about their satisfaction with claims clearinghouses.
The report also found that:
- 55% of health care providers said they are relying on their clearinghouses to convert claims to the HIPAA 5010 standards; and
- 44% said they are upgrading their practice management system to handle the change.
Researchers noted that "[v]ery few providers planned to handle the [HIPAA 5010] migration themselves," adding that many health care providers "don't even want to think about the 5010 migration" (Modern Healthcare, 12/16).