Softshare Announces Full Commitment to HIPAA.Business Editors/Health & High-Tech Writers SANTA BARBARA Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 2001 Newly released suite of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191) Also known as the "Kennedy-Kassebaum Act," this U.S. law protects employees' health insurance coverage when they change or lose their jobs (Title I) and provides standards for patient health, transaction models for Softshare Delta represents Softshare's first step towards enabling HIPAA compliance for all tiers of the health care community Softshare Inc., a leading provider of e-commerce products and services, today announced the release of a HIPAA compliant mapping suite for its popular data translation tool, Softshare Delta. The electronic data interchange See EDI. (application, communications) electronic data interchange - (EDI) The exchange of standardised document forms between computer systems for business use. EDI is part of electronic commerce. (EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) The electronic communication of business transactions, such as orders, confirmations and invoices, between organizations. Third parties provide EDI services that enable organizations with different equipment to connect. ) transaction models in this suite incorporate the implementation guidelines mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when of 1996. HIPAA legislation was enacted by the federal government to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, in part by streamlining administrative functions such as claims processing and billing procedures. HIPAA requires that health care providers, insurers, and other organizations that electronically exchange insurance- or patient-related data use standardized EDI formats rather than the proprietary or customized formats used currently. Under the new laws New Laws: see Las Casas, Bartolomé de. , most entities must be HIPAA compliant no later than October 16, 2002 or face severe penalties. Using the HIPAA mapping suite provided by Softshare Delta, health organizations can comply with these regulations by converting health care documents such as insurance claims into the standardized, ANSI (American National Standards Institute, New York, www.ansi.org) A membership organization founded in 1918 that coordinates the development of U.S. voluntary national standards in both the private and public sectors. It is the U.S. member body to ISO and IEC. X12 formats required by HIPAA. Furthermore, organizations that receive HIPAA transactions can use Softshare Delta to convert those transactions into the formats already used by their internal processing systems for instant integration into their existing operations. "The release of the HIPAA-compliant mapping suite for Softshare Delta represents a boon to the health care industry and a significant milestone in Softshare's ongoing commitment to HIPAA," said Keith Severson, Softshare Sales Executive and HIPAA Project Manager. "In the future, Softshare will closely monitor all new developments in HIPAA legislation and continue to make cost-effective, easy-to-implement HIPAA solutions available to all tiers of the health care community." About Softshare Softshare (www.softshare.com) offers a multi-tiered approach to electronic commerce with EDI/XML software solutions that range from desktop applications to fully integrated server applications. Supporting these applications is Softshare's value added network (networking) Value Added Network - (VAN) A privately owned network that provides a specific service, such as legal research or access to a specialised database, for a fee. A Value Added Network usually offers some service or information that is not readily available on public and accessible customer service. Headquartered in Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara is a city in California, United States. It is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 92,325. , Softshare has more than 20,000 clients using its various network, software, and EC services. For more information, call 800-346-6703 or e-mail sales@softshare.com. Softshare Media Contact: Diane Springhuth, 800-346-6703, dianes@softshare.com Softshare and Softshare Delta are registered trademarks of Softshare. All other company and product names referenced herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners. |
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