February 3, 1998
| The Honorable Albert Gore, Jr. President of the Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 |
The Honorable Newt Gingrich Speaker of the House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 |
| The Honorable William Roth Chairman Committee on Finance 219 Senate Dirksen Office Building United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 |
The Honorable James Jeffords Chairman Committee on Labor and Human Resources 428 Senate Dirksen Office Building United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 |
| The Honorable William Archer Chairman Committee on Ways and Means U.S. House of Representatives 1102 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 |
The Honorable Thomas Bliley Chairman Committee on Commerce U.S. House of Representatives 2125 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 |
| The Honorable William Goodling Chairman Committee on Education and the Workforce U.S. House of Representatives 2181 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 |
Dear Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chairmen:
In compliance with Section 263, Subtitle F of Public Law 104-191, I am pleased to transmit the Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Administrative Simplification Provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The report was developed by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), the public advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on health data, privacy, and health information policy.
The Administrative Simplification provisions of the law require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to adopt standards to support electronic interchange for administrative and financial health care transactions within 18 months of enactment. These standards are to include data elements and code sets for those transactions; unique health identifiers for health care providers, health plans, employers, and individuals for use in the health care system; and security standards to protect individually identifiable health information. Within 24 months of their adoption, i.e. by mid-2000, the standards would be required for use by health plans, providers and clearinghouses. Small plans would have another 12 months to comply.
Privacy protections play a prominent role in the law as well. The law requires the Secretary to submit detailed recommendations for Federal health information privacy legislation to the Congress. Secretary Shalala forwarded these recommendations to the Congress on September 11, 1997.
In addition, the statute gives expanded responsibilities to the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, including advising the Secretary on health information privacy and on the adoption of health data standards. The Committee is further directed to submit an annual report to Congress on the status of implementation of the Administrative Simplification effort. The first of the annual reports is enclosed.
Given the implementation steps and schedule outlined in the law, HHS and NCVHS efforts during the past year necessarily focused on extensive consultation with the industry relating to the identification and evaluation of the potential standards to be adopted, as well as the development of health information privacy recommendations to Congress. Accordingly, this first report focuses on those efforts. Subsequent annual reports will describe progress on later stages of standards adoption and implementation, as well as recommendations to the Department and Congress for a national health information infrastructure and related health information policy.
In the process of adopting health data standards, HHS has worked closely with the NCVHS, the industry, and the research and public health communities. To date, the process has been extremely open, collaborative, and productive. The success of the process to date bodes well for the ultimate implementation of these standards.
We hope that you will find the report informative and look forward to continued progress on these important issues for the nation's health system. If you or your staff would like a presentation on any of our past or anticipated activities, please let me know. We are committed to dramatic improvements in health information systems that will enhance the quality of health care, lower costs, and facilitate access to care.
Sincerely,
Don E. Detmer, M.D.
Chairman