Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Conducts HIPAA Seminars for Providers; Forums Address New Rules and Critical Business Issues.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2002

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGA) recently completed fourteen HIPAA forums attended by over 1,100 physicians, hospital staff, physician office managers and other office staff across Georgia.

The sessions were held with no cost to participants.

"One of our goals at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia is to be a trusted partner with our providers," said Michael Jorgensen, Director of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) Program Management for BCBSGA. "Reaching out to our physician and hospital partners on these mutually critical business issues is a measurable result of this important goal."

Congress passed the HIPAA statute in 1996 and this fall marks the initial compliance date for the Transaction and Code Set (TCS) standards. The privacy rule implementation is next spring and, as of now, no implementation date has been set for the security regulations.

The Transaction and Code Set (TCS) standards were effective on October 16, 2002 unless an extension was filed. TCS regulations require standard formatting and data elements for all electronic transactions. This would include such transactions between a provider and a health plan including but not limited to claim submissions and eligibility inquiries.

Numerous attendees noted that the briefings were "hands on" and proved valuable in informing the participants of the regulatory requirements.

Jorgensen continued, "BCBSGA has set 17 briefing dates across Georgia for the remainder of 2002. These meetings will focus on continuing education for TCS and discussions on the privacy and security regulatory requirements of HIPAA."

Blue Cross and Blue Shield will continue the seminars as the effective dates for additional regulations come due.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, serving more than 2.2 million medical members, is the oldest and largest health benefits company in Georgia. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia is an operating subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded health care companies serving the health care needs of more than 13 million medical members and approximately 46.6 million specialty members nationally. WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO, POS and hybrid products, HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management, dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia may be found on the web at www.bcbsga.com. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.