You officially have only 20 days left to comply with the version HIPAA 5010 standard. But even though HHS’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services, which enforces HIPAA compliance, delayed the HIPAA 5010 enforcement date to March 31, 2012 it’s still unclear as to whether payers, namely CMS will handle 4010 claims come Jan. 1, 2012.

CMS continues to update its web pages, this time adding a substantive section to its site for the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. The new "Data and Reports" page contains EHR attestation registration data, showing how many eligible providers have signed up to attest to meaningful use, and actual EHR incentive payment data, showing who got paid. There are already two very pretty full-color maps showing distribution data for EHR payments and registration, reflecting data through today (Nov. 7, 2011).

Your favorite payer’s website just got a much needed face-lift over the weekend. That’s right; the new and improved CMS.gov has the look and feel of www.healthcare.gov with the same information as before in a more cornea-friendly format and, in some cases, a new location. Medicaid now also has its own site housed at www.medicaid.gov.

CMS said the site changes are a direct reflection of user comments and complaints. NOTE: The site does have a few bugs, as most new sites do, and has been crashing, at least on this reporter’s browser, all day. But CMS is sure to work out the kinks soon.

You’ve seen more patients on high-deductible plans and you can expect that trend to continue, according to a wide range of media sources. In just one year, from 2010 to 2011, the percent of companies offering high-deductible plans went from 23% to 32%, one survey found. The survey, which only looked at companies with 500 or more employees, also found that 13% of insured employees were enrolled in a high-deductible plan as of 2011, compared to 3% in 2006.

CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D., will officially resign his post effective Dec. 2, CMS says. News of the departure leaked Nov. 3 before CMS’s formal announcement. Berwick will be succeeded by Marilyn Tavenner, currently CMS’s principal deputy administrator who has previously acted as administrator. Berwick’s term was supposed to last through Dec. 31 and he was up for Congressional confirmation in January.