CMS announces 90-day grace period for HIPAA version 5010 enforcement

1 December 2011

The Jan. 1 deadline for physicians to use the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) version 5010 electronic transactions is quickly approaching but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it will not enforce compliance until March 31.

CMS granted this 90-day grace period but physicians should still prepare their practices to be compliant by Jan. 1. Even though CMS is granting this grace period, it will begin to investigate complaints of non-compliance with version 5010 standards in January. Physicians who face a complaint must provide evidence of their efforts to become fully compliant.

The Medical Society of Virginia (MSV) put together resources to help physicians convert to 5010 for HIPAA. Click here to see what steps should be followed to successfully implement 5010 transactions.