AHA Opposes HPID on HIPAA Transactions
By Sara Heath
- On July 20, Ashley Thompson, Vice President and Deputy Director of the American Hospital Association (AHA), sent a letter on behalf of the AHA expressing opposition to the final rule on the Health Plan Identifier (HPID) and the Other Entity Identifier (OEID). This rule would require all HIPAA transactions to use the HPID/OEID.
In the letter addressed to Andy Slavitt, acting administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Thompson stated that the AHA did not support changes to the final rule on HPID/OEID.
“The AHA recommends that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revise the final rule to prohibit use of the HPID/OEID within a HIPAA transaction,” the letter states; however, Thompson continues in her letter to say that the AHA supports other uses of the HPID/OEID by the CMS.
Thompson explains that AHA’s opposition to the rule stems from the inconvenience and administrative burden it would create.
“Given the significant amount of time that has elapsed since the identifiers were first discussed, the health care community already has developed alternate approaches to ensure proper routing of claims information to health plans without using a national HPID,” she writes in the letter.
Because of this and other administrative complications, Thompson says, use of the HPID/OEID would simply cause problems without any substantial benefit.
Thompson continues her letter to identify other problems with HPID/OEID use, including the issue that many healthcare plans have an abundance of HPIDs and that in many cases it is too difficult for providers to validate them. These issues, says Thompson, in conjunction with the issue of pre-existing methods for the routing of claims, make the original intentions of HPID/OEID use invalid.
“The intent of the HIPAA legislation was to reduce administrative costs and make the process more efficient; the adoption of the HPID in the HIPAA transaction does neither,” she writes.
Despite their opposition to using the HPID/OEID in HIPAA transactions, AHA does support its use in other areas, says Thompson.
CMS has said it can use HPID/OEID in certifying a healthcare plan that is covered by HIPAA, or a healthcare plan that is compliant with HIPAA.
“Health plan certification is important because it would help identify which health plans are in compliance with the transaction standards, as well as identify health plans that are compliant with the operating rules in the future,” Thompson writes as she expresses AHA’s support of alternative uses of HPIDs.
In addition to expressing support for alternative uses of HPIDs, AHA suggests that CMS implement these certification initiatives no later than December, 2015.
