Web site lists HIPAA-compliant software

While a vendor's absence from the directory doesn't mean it's not compliant, organizers say it should motivate you to check out your computer company.

By Tyler Chin, AMNews staff. Dec. 23/30, 2002.

More than 50 companies selling physician practice management software are using a Web site sponsored by several medical societies to let doctors know if their systems will meet new federal standards for electronic health care transactions.

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, physicians, insurers, providers and claims clearinghouses must use standardized national formats for claims and several other claims-related transactions by Oct. 16, 2003, assuming they submitted an application to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services for a one-year extension. Otherwise, they had to comply with the regulation as of Oct. 16.

With the extended deadline only 10 months away, physicians should determine whether billing and practice management software systems they are using will support the HIPAA electronic transaction standards, especially the claim transaction, said David Kibbe, MD, director of health information technology at the American Academy of Family Physicians.

To help doctors meet the transaction standards, privacy rules and other HIPAA regulations, the AAFP, the Medical Group Management Assn., the American College of Physicians--American Society of Internal Medicine and other societies last October launched a site to educate and inform doctors about HIPAA. [...]