Physician groups slow to schedule internal HIPAA 5010 testing

iHealthBeat, April 8, 2011

About 56% of surveyed physician practices have not scheduled internal testing of new HIPAA 5010 transaction sets, while 8.3% of respondents reported that internal 5010 testing is under way at their organizations, according to a Medical Group Management Association survey. HHS has set a deadline of Jan. 1, 2012, for using HIPAA 5010 transaction sets, which regulate the transmission of certain health care transactions. Industry guidelines state that hospitals and medical practices should have installed and tested upgrades with external business partners by Jan. 1, 2011. According to the survey, nearly 13% of respondents said such testing is slated to start between July and September. The survey also found that about 61% of respondents said their organizations had not scheduled external HIPAA 5010 testing with major health plans.