FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 5, 2007

NCHICA and WEDI Announce Release of Regulatory Timeline
Research Triangle Park, NC
(December 5, 2007)

The North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance, Inc. (NCHICA) and the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) Timeline Initiative today announced the release of its first estimated timeline database addressing proposed healthcare standards, regulations and other initiatives announced by federal agencies and national standards organizations.

The timeline estimates that, based on current assumptions, implementation of the 5010 version of HIPAA transactions will be complete in 2014. This date is important because the ICD-10 clinical coding system cannot be used until 5010 transactions are implemented and can be processed using the ICD-10 codes. Project management software is being used to identify the critical issues that affect the implementation of 5010 transactions and may provide opportunities to shorten the time frame for implementation.

“It is important that organizations take a project management approach to implementing new federal regulations,” said Holt Anderson, Executive Director of NCHICA. “Our estimate is based on the key assumption that a proposed rule on 5010 will be published in June 2008, and if only minor revisions are made, a final rule will be published in 2010. It is projected that it will take three years to move to limited production of new standards and one year to move to full compliance, bringing us to 2014.”

NCHICA is teaming with WEDI to expand their joint work to include other key regulations in future releases of the timeline, such as NCPDP D.0, e-prescribing, attachments and acknowledgements. The estimated timeline for 5010 is available for download in both Microsoft® Office Project and Adobe® PDF formats on the NCHICA and WEDI websites (visit http://www.nchica.org/HIPAAResources/timeline.htm or www.wedi.org/public/articles/index.cfm). The sites also include detailed information about the Timeline Initiative.

“It is our hope that organizations will download the timeline and modify it as needed to determine what they must do internally to implement new regulations,” said WEDI Executive Vice President and CEO Jim Schuping. “This tool will help them see the steps needed and other dependencies that affect implementation dates. We hope to receive feedback that confirms or sheds new light on the underlying assumptions to further refine the estimated timeline.”

Both organizations are currently seeking sponsorship and support commitments for the project, which will help determine how often updates can be published. Those interested in participating in or sponsoring the effort should contact Stanley Nachimson at Nachimson_advisors@verizon.net or Guy Ferrari at guy.ferrari@bcbsnc.com. Individuals interested in working on this project also can sign up thru listservs on the WEDI Web site at: http://wedi.org/users_only/mailinglist/MailingListFormPublic/subscriptions.

About NCHICA

The North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance, Inc. (NCHICA) is a nationally recognized nonprofit consortium that serves as an open, effective and neutral forum for health information technology (HIT) initiatives that improve health and care in North Carolina. Members include leading organizations in healthcare, research and information technology. Working closely with its members, NCHICA has the unique ability to convene and form partnerships to advance HIT adoption. NCHICA’s leadership in conducting demonstration projects, hosting educational sessions and fostering collective efforts within North Carolina helps position the state at the vanguard of national HIT acceleration efforts. NCHICA is located in Research Triangle Park, NC. For more information, please call (919) 558-9258 or visit www.nchica.org.

About WEDI

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is a broad-based industry trade association committed to the implementation of administrative simplification in healthcare through electronic commerce and EDI, and actively seeks opportunities for “partnering with other organizations to achieve electronic delivery of information in healthcare.” WEDI is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, near Washington, DC. Inquiries for additional information may be directed to Jim Schuping, 703-391-2716, jschuping@wedi.org.

Media Contacts:

For NCHICA:
Alyssa Willard Zarb Consulting Alyssa@zarbconsulting.com (919) 791-0012

For WEDI:
Jim Schuping jschuping@wedi.org (703) 391-2716