HIPAA Deadline Fast Approaching
 
September 20, 2002
 

Compliance deadlines under the Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) are fast approaching. In general, HIPAA establishes national standards for electronic health care transactions and requires the privacy and security of certain patient data.

The rule adopting standard transactions and code sets for electronic health care transactions requires compliance no later than October 16, 2002. However, health care providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouses may obtain a one-year extension by submitting a compliance plan to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services by October 16, 2002.

Additionally, most entities must comply with the privacy regulations by April 14, 2003. Small health plans, those plans with annual receipts of $5 million or less, will have until April 14, 2004, to comply. Moreover, entities involved in compliance efforts should note that the privacy rules were modified as recently as August 14, 2002. You can find the Holland & Knight HIPAA team's summary of the changes by Clicking Here.