The American National Standards Institute's Accredited Standards Committee X12 has announced that it will hold off on recommending the adoption of the next generation of HIPAA 5010 transaction sets, called HIPAA 6020, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 2/7).
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.
In November 2011, CMS announced it would wait until March 31 to begin enforcing compliance with HIPAA 5010 standards. However, CMS noted that the compliance date would remain Jan. 1 (iHealthBeat, 2/2).
Industry Pushback
ASC X12's announcement comes as health care industry stakeholders are expressing concern about their ability to transition to HIPAA 5010 standards (Modern Healthcare, 2/7).
In December 2011, the Medical Group Management Association urged CMS to delay the Jan. 1 compliance date for new HIPAA 5010 electronic transaction standards until June. MGMA cited a survey of its members finding that a significant number of stakeholders are not ready to use the HIPAA 5010 transaction sets (iHealthBeat, 2/2).
Delaying HIPAA 6020 Recommendations
ASC X12 already has developed technical reports outlining its plans for the HIPAA 6020 standards. A public comment period on the technical reports is underway until March 7.
However, ASC X12 said it will hold off on recommending the adoption of the technical reports, which would be a major step toward HIPAA 6020 adoption (Goedert, Health Data Management, 2/7).
The committee said, "After meeting with health care industry stakeholders and assessing the current and planned health care industry initiatives, ASC X12 will not recommend its 6020 Type 3 Technical Reports to the Designated Standards Maintenance Organizations."
ASC X12 said it hopes to reassure the health care industry that HIPAA 5010 implementations will have time to mature before it recommends the adoption of HIPAA 6020 standards (Modern Healthcare, 2/7).