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Has the ANSI implementation been Postponed? |
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NO! The law has not changed and does not postpone the HIPAA mandated deadline. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a contingency plan in September which allows providers to continue sending claims in the National Standard Format (NSF) as well as paper. However, they will accept the new format as well. This contingency plan is temporary and as soon as AMBPAC is informed of the new dates we will post them to this website.
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Does the update make our company completely HIPAA compliant? |
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No. AMBPAC has undertaken the necessary steps to make your billing system and its processes compliant. Your company and its employees are required to protect PHI to HIPAA standards, too. (i.e. it is not allowed to leave patient records in public view.) Your company's compliance requires a specific effort on your part to identify and address all HIPAA requirements.
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| Q: |
Will my AR Plus collect all the necessary data for HIPAA? |
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The answer is 'Yes' for the ANSI portion. The programs have been modified to collect new data and to manage data relationships in new ways and to new requirements. NOTE: Under HIPAA, providers are required to keep records of all disclosures of all PHI to all sources. Your AMBPAC system does not keep track of all disclosures (i.e., copy of physician's cert statement provided to an attorney).
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I have several ECS programs. Are they all ready? |
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Yes, all ECS programs are now available in ANSI. Where available, AMBPAC has completed production testing. In some regions, the carriers require production testing to be conducted by the service provider. |
NOTE:
AMBPAC is maintaining a complete listing of all questions that have arisen regarding HIPAA. For your own latest copy, please contact Sue Stevens at 916.733.3555 or e-mail your request to support@ambpac.com.
Background
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Part of the mandates for becoming HIPAA compliant is that all electronic billing files must be submitted in the ANSI format. ANSI stands for the American National Standards Institute. As a software vendor, AMPBAC's role in assisting its clients in becoming HIPAA compliant is to provide a smooth transition between the old and new billing methods and to ensure that the means to capture and report all required data are made available. In most cases, meeting the privacy restrictions mandated by HIPAA will be the responsibility of the provider, but where possible, AMBPAC has made software modifications to maximize data integrity and patient privacy.
In an effort to cut down on the necessity for custom code in the various audit programs, clients will now utilize unique parameter files that will be used to control conditions specific to their Medicare, Medicaid and/or Private Insurance carriers' requirements.
A more comprehensive method for controlling the bundling of charges has been created and a new HIPAA 2.1 screen will replace both the MCARE and, in most instances, the 1500 2.1 screens.
If you have not signed up for your HIPAA install, please call Sue Stevens at 916.733.3555 or email her at support@ambpac.com.
If you want more info on our products and services
please email us at sales@ambpac.com.
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