National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS)

Hearing on the Health Plan Identifier  

—— an identifier under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ——

Department of Health and Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Ave, SW Room 800
Washington, DC 20201

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Meeting Summary

Transcript

Hearing Purposes, Objectives

The purpose of this hearing is to seek further input from the health care industry for disposition and next steps of the Health Plan Identifier following its three year enforcement discretion period. NCVHS has held two hearings on the same topic in 2014, and prepared two letters to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The committee intends to obtain clear information from industry regarding the business need and value of the HPID in the current health care environment. 

Tentative Agenda

Printable Acrobat Agenda

Unless otherwise specified, each testifier will have 5 minutes to present key points followed by Committee Q & A

Written testimony is requested to supplement oral testimony and is welcome from any other individual or organization who is not presenting.

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. Welcome and Introductions Alix Goss, Co-Chair

Nick Coussoule, Co-Chair
9:15 – 9:45 a.m. Overview and Background of HPID   Madhu Annadata, CMS

Laurie Darst, WEDI
PART 1:   Health Plans and Providers  
9:45 – 10:25 a.m. Session A: Health Plans: Private sector, government, and self-funded plans will provide information about use, need and purpose of plan identifiers, and impact of the current HPID rule.
 
  • Commercial Plans
     
  • Government Plans
     
  • Medicaid

     

  • Business Groups
 Kelley Turek, AHIP
Gail Kocher, BCBSA

Daniel Sawyer, DoD

Melissa Moorehead, NMEH by phone
Debra Dixon, California Medicaid

Kristy Thornton, PBGH by phone
  Committee Q&A  
10:25 – 10:55 a.m. Session B—Providers will offer their perspective about use, need and purpose of plan identifiers, and impact of the current HPID rule
  Represented by:
Robert Tennant, MGMA

 

 

Katherine Knapp, Veterans Affairs (provider)
  Committee Q&A  
10:55 – 11:10 a.m. Break  
PART 2: States, Clearinghouses, Vendors and Standards Development Organizations
11:10 – 11:50 a.m. Session C — Other organizations will give their perspective about use, need and purpose of plan identifiers, and impact of the current HPID rule
 
  • Clearinghouses
     
     
  • Billers
 Debbie Meisner, ChangeforHealth
Sherry Wilson, Jopari Solutions for the CooperativeExchange by phone

Dave Nicholson, CHBME
  Committee Q&A  
11:50 – 12:50 p.m. LUNCH  
 
12:50 – 1:20 p.m. Session D – Standards Organizations
 
  • SDOs
 Laurie Burckhardt, X12
Chuck Jaffe Rep, HL7
Margaret Weiker, NCPDP
Gwen Lohse, CAQH
Nancy Spector, NUCC
  Committee Q&A  

1:20 – 1:45 p.m.

 Committee Discussion   
 
  • Facilitated discussion with Committee Members and Testifiers
  • Focus on key messages on current state, challenges, opportunities
  • Possible areas for recommendations
    • To HHS
    • To Industry
1:45 – 1:55 p.m. Public Comment  
2:00 p.m. Adjournment  

Written Comments are being provided by:

  1. Medicare Advantage Program
  2. CCIIO (Federal Marketplace)
  3. American Dental Association (ADA)
  4. American Hospital Association (AHA)
  5. Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)
  6. ERISA Industry Committee, ERIC
  7. NUBC
  8. American Health Information Management Association- Public Health Data Standards Consortium (AHIMA-PHDSC)

QUESTIONS FOR PANELISTS

We would like testifiers to provide any visuals and examples that will help NCVHS understand the exchange and routing of transactions, and how identifiers play a role in the process. 

  1. What health plan identifiers are used today and for what purpose? Visual work flows are welcome.
  2. What business needs do you have that are not adequately met with the current scheme in use today?
  3. What benefits do you see the current HPID model established by the HHS regulation provide? Does the model established in the final HPID rule meet your business needs?
  4. What challenges do you see with the current HPID model established by HHS?
  5. What recommendations do you have going forward regarding health plan identifiers and an HPID final rule established by HHS?

4/14/2017 version