Nov 29th 2011 
Written by: Greg noble
Medical practices scrambling to prepare for the HIPAA 5010 compliance deadline on January 1, 2012 can breathe a sigh of relief – they will get more time.
With the year coming to a close and the deadline for 5010 is fast approaching, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced it will not enforce penalties for HIPAA covered entities until March 31, 2012.
While the compliance date for implementing ASC X12 Version 5010 remains January 1, CMS is allowing a 90-day period of “enforcement discretion for compliance with new HIPAA transaction standards.”
Version 5010 Grace Period
The Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS), the division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that enforces HIPAA and code set standards compliance, explained the decision in a CMS release.
“OESS made the decision for a discretionary enforcement period based on industry feedback revealing that, with only about 45 days remaining before the January 1, 2012 compliance date, testing between some covered entities and their trading partners has not yet reached a threshold whereby a majority of covered entities would be able to be in compliance by January.”
This comes on the heels of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) asking the HHS to issue a HIPAA 5010 contingency plan allowing health plans to adjudicate claims that may not have the required data for the new standards.
The good news is MedWorxs Evolution and our clearinghouse partners are well on the way to meeting all current deadlines. The additional time will be used to work through the various issues which inevitably will come up.
Look forward to a very crazy time over the next year or so as all this flushes out.
About the author
Greg is a founding member of MedWorxs and chief technology go to guy. Prior to joining MedWorxs he worked with various companies in the technology realm such as Qwest Dex, Centura Healthcare and Focus Healthcare.
