Now that 2012 is upon us, your transactions should be compliant with the HIPAA 5010 policies.
Hopefully, you didn’t delay your 5010 transition. Just because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) won’t enforce their non-compliance penalties until March 31, 2012 doesn’t mean you should hold off on implementing the new transaction standards.
Waiting until spring to convert your practice will only cause you more headaches since during the non-enforcement period CMS will call on providers who missed the deadline to show “good faith” and present proof of their efforts to become compliant.
To aid medical practices in making the switch to Version 5010, the American Medical Association (AMA) has released a 5010 Checklist. The worksheet divides the work of implementation into four broad categories, each encompassing a list of activities that should be executed to guide the process along. These categories are:
- Project Plan: Devising an overall 5010 strategy
- Assessment: Contacting vendors, clearinghouses, payers, and billing service providers to determine their enactment plans
- Implementation: Testing and deploying new systems or upgrades
- Monitoring: Continuing use and observation of technology and transactions
The AMA advises using this straightforward guideline in conjunction its comprehensive 5010 Implementation Project Plan Template, a much more detailed task-by-task spreadsheet that includes the “estimated time to complete” each step of the process.
If you’re way behind schedule, don’t let the 6-9 month estimates on the template scare you away from using it. The timetables are approximate and will differ for every medical practice.
These and other helpful AMA resources, available at www.ama-assn.org/go/5010, can help you to begin, proceed with or finish off your Version 5010 conversion efforts and get your staff up to speed on the changes as soon as possible.
After all, March will be here before you know it. The more prepared you are now, the less you’ll have to worry about violations this year.
Is your practice compliant with Version 5010?
Madelyn Young is a Content Writer for CareCloud and an expert on practice management, medical billing, HIPAA 5010, ICD-10, and revenue cycle management. You can read her work on Power Your Practice and the CareCloud Blog. Contact Madelyn with story suggestions, contributor articles, or any other feedback at madelyn@poweryourpractice.com or follow her on Twitter @madelyn_young.
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