HIPAA Starting Date Moved Back
by January 21, 2002 12:00 am 65 views
The Arkansas Hospital Association said it agreed with President Bush’s decision to delay by one year the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s transactions standards and codes regulations.
The new standards, which require health care providers, insurers and researchers to use standard codes in treatment, billing and information compilation, now will be implemented on Oct. 16, 2003.
There was some legislation that would have delayed the regulations indefinitely, but the legislation was abandoned after several groups, including the American Hospital Association, opposed it, said Paul Cunningham, the Arkansas Hospital Association’s senior vice president.
The groups were opposed to the indefinite delay because several hospitals already have made a significant investment to comply with the new standards.
“I think the one-year delay is acceptable because it does allow hospitals that haven’t been able to comply yet the additional time to get up-to-date with those standards,” he said.
The Arkansas Hospital Association estimates it could cost Arkansas hospitals between $100 million-$150 million to comply with the new HIPAA standards.