You already know that Jan. 1, 2012 is the deadline to implement the new ANSI 5010 standard for electronic transactions of HIPAA-protected data. But you might be wondering why CMS recently announced a delay in the “implementation of the PWK [paperwork] segment associated with [the test of the 5010] claim transaction originally scheduled for July and October 2011.”
The reason behind the delay is that Medicare contractors needing more time to coordinate with the system PWK change, a CMS spokesman tells Part B News.
Who cares: The delay will most likely affect individuals such as surgeons, critical care doctors, or those who utlize durable medical equipment; basically anyone who is required to provide supporting info on procedures performed.
“If you’re ready for testing, and unable to test that segment [then] it’s more of a minor annoyance than a major risk,” said Robert Burleigh, CHBME and president of BrandywineHealthcare Services, who notes that the PWK process is utilized about 10 to 20% of the time. Still, Raleigh notes that the recent delay will hold back physicians who are ready to test every segment.
This could also be an interesting indication that “the rest of the industry may struggle to meet the [5010] timelines,” said AthenaHealth product manager Ellen Fitzpatrick. If even Medicare is scrambling to meet deadlines for a complicated process, the final Jan. 1, 2012 deadline could cause more payment freezes than expected, Burleigh says.