New Minnesota law requires electronic claims filing by 2009

Physicians won't be charged for using the system, which features uniform billing and coding standards.

By Dave Hansen, AMNews staff. July 23/30, 2007.

Washington -- Generating cash flow as quickly as possible can be a critical goal of private practice. Minnesota physicians will have an easier time achieving the goal under what is believed to be a first-in-the-nation state law requiring electronic filing of claims in a standard format, physicians and experts said.

Electronic filing of claims "makes a big difference," said Jed Downs, MD, a Duluth specialist in occupational medicine. The turnaround for an electronic claim is two weeks, compared with 60 to 90 days for a paper claim, he explained. It also means cleaner claims with less money wasted for reprocessing insurance company denials, not to mention 41-cent stamps and toner for letters.

"It makes it hard to get started up when you have no cash flow and money is going out," he explained.

The new law, which requires standard, electronic filing starting in 2009, was part of Minnesota's Omnibus Health and Human Services funding bill. Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the measure on May 25. Under the law, all public and private group purchasers, along with physicians, electronically will exchange eligibility information, claims, payment and remittance advice in a standard format. Physicians cannot be charged for using the format.

The law also requires that the companion guides that health plans use to explain their payment guidelines be electronic and standardized.

Physicians won't be subject to a formal penalty for noncompliance, though insurers can reject claims that aren't filed electronically after the 2009 deadline, said Minnesota Medical Assn. spokesman Scott Smith. The MMA supports the law, he added.