My Experience at the June X12 Meeting

Nancy Spector, WEDI Senior Director, Federal Affairs

In my 20 years of involvement in X12 and attending meetings, I have had on multiple occasions to explain what an X12 meeting is and what happens at one. These explanations have been for bosses, colleagues, and newcomers who have either limited understanding of standards development or are familiar with other standards development organizations. In my role at WEDI, I no longer attend the X12 meetings on a regular basis but got the chance to attend the June 8-11 meeting in Philadelphia. This blog is for those who are interested in learning more about X12 and what happens at their meetings.

If you are not familiar with X12, it is an American National Standards Institute-accredited, standards development organization made up of cross-industry stakeholder members. The numerous volunteers from member organizations work in collaboration to develop and maintain electronic data interchange standards that support standardized data exchange for multiple industries. X12’s transaction standards and implementation guides are the engines that power billions of business-to-business transactions each year. Several X12 transactions are mandated for use in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), including claims, eligibility and benefits, claim status, remittance advice, enrollment, and prior authorization.

X12 traditionally holds three Standing Meetings throughout the year. The Winter meeting is in late January or early February, the Summer meeting is in June, and the Fall meeting is in late September or early October. The meetings are not just for the health care industry. X12 has different Subcommittees that meet during the Standing Meetings, including Insurance, which health care is a part, Transportation, Communication, etc.

Being onsite at these meetings is how you learn about the X12 standards development process, work underway at that meeting, and future work being planned. It is also where you engage with your colleagues, come to understand the administrative processes from different stakeholders’ points of view, and better understand the interaction of the different transactions with each other.

The format of the X12 meetings is easy to follow. The meeting schedule is available on X12’s website and there is a meeting planner app that gives up-to-date information on times and locations, along with a forum for asking questions and connecting with other attendees. If you still have questions or need to be pointed in the right direction, the staff at the registration desk are always there to help.

The following is a high-level overview of a typical Standing Meeting and what happens on the various days.

Sunday:

• At the June meeting, the X12 General Session was held this afternoon followed by a reception. For those who have gone to X12 meetings in the past, this General Session and reception were being held on Monday evening.

Monday:

• I like to attend the X12N Management meeting first thing in the morning. This is one where the X12 management team discusses the latest on its work and hot topics.
• The Insurance Full Subcommittee, or “Full N” as it is often called, is next. This meeting is led by the X12N Chair who reviews the activities expected for the week. There are overviews provided of X12’s work on maintenance requests, what the different workgroups will be working on during the week, any special activities, etc. This is the time to learn the latest X12 news and which workgroups you want to attend and when.
• After the Full N meeting, the attendees disperse into their various workgroups, usually for the rest of the day. Attending the different workgroups is a good way to learn more about the transactions and the work being done on them.
• There is a First-time Attendee Orientation session in the morning that is very helpful. It covers the must-know basics of the X12 organization, structure, standards, and vocabulary. Being at an X12 meeting can feel like entering a foreign country with a new language and this orientation serves as a decoder ring.

Note: There are cross-workgroup activities that can happen ad hoc or in the Harmonization Workgroup (this group is focused on harmonizing data elements, rules, and notes across the implementation guides). These are discussions that you might want to participate in.

Tuesday

• The workgroups spend the day meeting with breaks to attend other meetings as needed.
• The code maintenance groups usually meet on this day and may be of interest if the transactions you follow have external code lists maintained by one of these groups.
• The Business Task Group Management meeting is at noon. It is a good meeting to attend to learn about what is happening in the different workgroups from the leadership perspective.
• The Cooperative Exchange Clearinghouse Caucus meets at 5 pm. This is a great informational session with speakers talking about current topics and issues affecting clearinghouses, although the information is relevant to non-clearinghouse organizations as well. Plus, they have drinks and appetizers.

Wednesday

• This morning starts off with another Full N meeting with updates from the workgroup activity that has happened so far. There is also the potential for voting items by the X12 members.
• This is another day of workgroup meetings with breaks for other meetings as needed.
• The Dental Caucus meets at noon, the Provider Caucus meets at 5 pm, the Medicaid Caucus meets at 5:30 pm. Each group focuses on their interests with the X12 transactions and administrative data exchange.

Thursday

• The Regulatory Advisory Workgroup holds a morning meeting outlining current regulatory activities and potential impacts on X12’s work. This is an interesting session to attend to understand how X12’s work fits into the larger picture of administrative data exchange, revenue cycle management, and regulatory requirements. It can also provide good intel to take back to your organization.
• X12 N Management meets again. This is an opportunity to hear how issues may have been resolved during the week and any new items that came up.
• The Full N meets and serves as the conclusion of the Standing Meeting. There are final report-outs on the work accomplished during the week and interim activities expected until the next Standing Meeting.

With that, another Standing Meeting ends. As a first-time attendee, you leave with a better understanding of X12, knowledge about the standards development process, and contact information for colleagues who you can reach out to with questions. At the next Standing Meeting, you will no longer be a newcomer and will be well-experienced to guide the next first timer.