| Frequently Asked Questions: HIPAA and AS2 |
Background
- Q1: What is Drummond Group, Inc. (DGI)?
- Q2: What is HIPAA?
General
- Q3: What is AS2?
- Q4: How is AS2 related to HIPAA at a high level?
- Q5: What organizations are likely to use AS2 for HIPAA, and in what scenarios?
- Q6: What are the direct and indirect benefits of using AS2 for HIPAA?
- Q7: What is the price of AS2 software and how can I purchase it?
Technical
- Q8: What specific HIPAA requirements does AS2 address?
- Q9: If I use a clearinghouse, why would I use AS2 for HIPAA?
- Q10: Why wouldn't I just use file transfer protocol (FTP) to transfer HIPAA messages?
- Q11: Can I leverage AS2 with other health standards (HL7, NCPDP, etc.)?
- Q12: Why wouldn't I use ebMS or another message transport service for HIPAA?
- Q13: Does AS2 support "mailboxing" of messages or pull-style messaging?
- Q14: If I buy a software solution supporting ebXML Messaging, will it work with an AS2-based software solution?
- Q15: Where can I find additional information on HIPAA?
- Q16: Where can I find additional information on AS2?
Background
1) What is Drummond Group, Inc. (DGI)?
Drummond Group Inc. (DGI) is a strategic, vendor-neutral consultancy
that works with software vendors, vertical industry and the standards
community to drive adoption for standards by facilitating vertical
industry pilots, interoperability conformance testing and building
competitive supply chain strategies. Founded in 1999, DGI represents
best-of-breed in the industry on linking horizontal infrastructure
technologies, standards and interoperability issues with the needs of
vertical industry such as retail, grocery, health care, transportation,
government and automotive.
DGI's expertise in interoperability testing services and ebusiness
standards is reflected in a series of research reports designed to
provide education and valuable insight into current technology issues
and guidance to enterprises seeking the best solutions for their supply
chains.
DGI administers all interoperability tests for eBusinessReady™ .
DGI's expertise in interoperability testing services and ebusiness standards is reflected in a series of research reports designed to provide education and valuable insight into current technology issues and guidance to enterprises seeking the best solutions for their supply chains.
2) What is HIPAA?
HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Article II of the law regulates the use of individual's protected health information. There are four basic HIPAA principles:
- Consumer Control - The regulation provides consumers with critical new rights to control the release of their medical information.
- Boundaries - With few exceptions, an individual's health care information can be used only for health care purposes.
- Accountability - Under HIPAA, for the first time, there will be specific federal penalties if a patient's right is violated.
- Security - It is the responsibility of organizations that are entrusted with health information to protect it against deliberate or inadvertent misuse or disclosure.
In addition, HIPAA is a wide-ranging set of U.S. government legislation intended to:
- Enhance portability of individual health plans from one provider to another
- Provide privacy for patient information
- Lower industry costs by prescribing standards for health claim-related transactions
For key HIPAA standards, please refer to chart below.
© 2008 Drummond Group, Inc.