WEDI April 2017 Newsletter

WEDI Newsletter | April 2017

Executive Corner | WEDI Releases Cybercrime in Healthcare White Paper
WEDI 2017 is Right Around the Corner | Webinar Update
WEDI Names Laurie Darst as 2017-2018 Board Chair
and Jay Eisenstock as Chair-Elect
Jim Daley Retires from WEDI Board of Directors | Workgroup Roundup
Sponsorship Special | Latest Member News

This has already been a busy year for WEDI, and we are only in April! Of course, with the new administration, healthcare is front and center with much anticipated change. WEDI has begun outreach to the new HHS appointees and their staff, and we look forward to a positive working relationship.

In February, WEDI finalized our strategic plan. Our direction this year is to ensure our key initiatives are driven by our strategic priorities of Collaboration and Outreach, Our Advisory Role, Knowledge and Excellence, and Sustainable Growth. As the industry struggles with the challenges dealing with prior authorization, multiple initiatives have emerged focused on important — but differing — priorities. In our role as industry convener and advisor, WEDI launched the Prior Authorization Council — a forum where each participating organization can share their results, learn from their colleagues, and identify areas of common ground for innovation.

The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) once again is requesting testimony on the Health Plan Identifier (HPID). WEDI, represented by Laurie Darst and Gail Kocher, will present our current position — which is the same as we recommended back in July 2015. Based on feedback from our membership obtained through several Policy Advisory Groups, Technical Advisory Committees, and sessions held during conferences, WEDI’s recommendation is the HPID is not needed and, specifically, should not be used in the standard transactions.

Attachments are, of course, a topic on everyone’s mind these days as we await regulatory guidance. Initially, WEDI, X12 and HL7 each planned to develop a document providing guidance on implementation. Rather than create three separate documents and actually complicate the process, the organizations agreed to develop a white paper outlining the business and technical aspects of attachments. Tentatively, the white paper is scheduled for publication in August 2017.

During last year’s Fall conference, WEDI-Con, WEDI hosted an enthusiastic session dealing with a significant issue facing both providers and health plans. Although the number of transactions continues to rise, the proportion of phone calls is not decreasing. The WEDI eligibility and benefit workgroup will be addressing this issue by looking at the end-to-end process from the provider desktop to the health plan and back. The workgroup will be gathering further information during its session at the upcoming WEDI Spring Conference May 15-18, 2017 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel Los Angeles, CA.

Speaking of the conference, WEDI has an exciting agenda featuring notable speakers from across the industry and multiple sessions concerning the hottest topics currently affecting every aspect of healthcare. I look forward to seeing you all there!

—Jay Eisenstock, WEDI Board of Directors Chair-Elect

Our Spring Conference – WEDI 2017 – is the place to be if you are involved in any
facet of the healthcare IT ecosystem! It brings together an impressive mix of healthcare leaders across payers, providers, government regulators and industry vendors where we’ll discuss “Driving Solutions in a Changing Healthcare Landscape.” Be sure to register to join us in Los Angeles, California on May 15-18 so as to be a part of these critical discussions and hear the latest industry and policy perspectives.
Find out more here.

And, thank you to our Media Sponsors:

Last month, WEDI released an industry white paper, entitled “The Rampant Growth of Cybercrime in Healthcare” exploring some common vulnerabilities that are typically exploited by cybercriminals in today’s healthcare environment, as well as best practices organizations can implement to mitigate these vulnerabilities.

Stemming from topics discussed at multi-stakeholder cybersecurity roundtables convened in November 2015 and April 2016 by WEDI and sponsored by Fortinet, the 15-page document outlines how cybercrimes are more commonplace in the healthcare landscape given the high value of digital health records which have “attracted organized crime and government-sponsored entities that in turn are capable of launching sophisticated attacks to disrupt, disable, destroy or maliciously control digital technology and data of organizations. As cybercrimes have become more prevalent and complex in healthcare, they are also causing greater damage.”

Many thanks to Fortinet for sponsoring this white paper. Read the full document on the WEDI website.

Did you miss one of our recent webinars and want to catch up on the content? Take advantage of the perks of your WEDI membership, and download the On Demand Content Today! WEDI webinars are free for Members, $99 for Non-Members. Visit the WEDI Store for a listing of all the recorded presentations, or access a few of our most recent ones here:

The Future of Healthcare IT: Artificial Intelligence – April 2017 online webinar – Access Now

A Post-ACA Survival Kit for all HIT Professionals – April 2017 online webinar – Access Now

The Quality Payment Program – March 2017 online webinar – Access Now

We are pleased to announce that WEDI has named Laurie Darst as Chair and Jay Eisenstock as Chair-Elect of the Board of Directors for the 2017-2018 term. In the role as the 2017 Chair, Darst, revenue cycle regulatory advisor with the Mayo Clinic, will help lead the multi-stakeholder board as the organization moves forward in its efforts to promote the use of health IT to improve healthcare information exchange – enhancing quality of care, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

“WEDI’s broad and diverse membership, comprised of providers, payers, vendors, standards organizations and state and federal government, has a long history of leveraging consensus-building and collaboration to identify solutions to the challenges facing our industry,” stated Laurie Darst, 2017 WEDI Board Chair. “In this year of turmoil and change to the nation’s healthcare system, as a named advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in the HIPAA legislation, WEDI is uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on critical data exchange issues.”

Jay Eisenstock, senior director of provider eSolutions for Aetna and the WEDI Board Chair-Elect for 2018 added: “Healthcare will continue to be a dominant topic now that the new administration has come into power. WEDI, as the respected voice of all stakeholders participating in healthcare information exchange, will be actively engaged in the discussion.”

For more information on the WEDI Board of Directors, visit the WEDI website.

This month, we announced that Jim Daley, a long-standing member of the WEDI Board of Directors, will retire from his role with WEDI in May 2017 in conjunction with his career retirement as Director of IT at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.

Daley has been involved in multiple facets of the WEDI organization dating back to the mid-1990s. During that time, he held such roles as Co-Chair of the WEDI
SNIP ICD-10 Workgroup, member of the Executive Committee, Vice-Chair and Chair of the WEDI Board of Directors. Daley was also instrumental in creation of the 2013 WEDI Report, and testified numerous times before the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics on various HIPAA-related issues on behalf of WEDI and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

“Jim Daley has been an integral part of WEDI for many years and has contributed greatly to the success of our organization,” stated Charles W. Stellar, WEDI president and CEO. “We will miss the true dedication Jim puts forth in all that he does and the passion he has for creating solutions that drive efficiency and improvement within the healthcare system.”

“It has been a pleasure working with Jim in his many roles at WEDI” stated Laurie Darst, WEDI’s Chair. He’s been a longstanding WEDI supporter, one of the most committed ambassadors for us, and a vital part of our leadership.”

For more information on the WEDI Board of Directors, visit the WEDI website.

All of our workgroups have great projects and things underway, here’s just a brief highlight of a few:

The Innovative Encounters Workgroup is continuing its development of the Telehealth Modalities Issue Brief. The brief explores many of the different types of modalities available for use in telehealth as well as acknowledging the uses and limitations of the modalities.
The Acknowledgements Subworkgroup is being reactivated with Lori Jennings and Barbara Wood serving as co-chairs. Be on the lookout for more information, as we will be seeking energetic SWG participants!
The EFT and 835 Subworkgroups have combined into a single SWG, Remittance Advice and Payment (ERA/EFT), and are finalizing the Barriers to Adoption paper.
WEDI’s Property & Casualty Subworkgroup invites you to join its May 4th call at 11:00am (PST) to provide input and/or learn about the latest Property & Casualty eBilling regulation and legislation status in your state. Its May focus is to update the Property & Casualty resource center and this is your opportunity to stay informed, share your information and network with other eBill stakeholders that include providers, payers, vendor and state regulators.
The Dental Subworkgroup is in the midst of mapping the 2012 American Dental Association claim form format to the X12 00510 837D Claims Transaction and providing a user friendly guide to electronic claim submission processing. Additionally, through a coordinated process with the Data Exchange Workgroup, they are working to provide dental comments for the X12 Public Comment period for the proposed 7030 Transactions and Code Sets.

WEDI offers numerous advertising, marketing, and sponsorship opportunities allowing your organization to market to your specific healthcare audience. Our sponsorships fit
a wide range of marketing strategies, promotional methods, and budgets. One such opportunity currently available at our special promotion price is the Conference Mobile App for the discounted price of $8,000. There are only TWO available sponsorships – one at WEDI 2017 and one at WEDI-Con 2017. Act now to take advantage of this deal!

There are also many sponsorship opportunities at each of our major on-site conferences as well as virtual conferences and webinars, or sponsorship of educational materials such as white papers and issue briefs.

Health Plans/Insurers

Not-for-Profit

Technology Solutions/Vendors

If you are a WEDI Corporate Member organization and would like to have your press releases included in a future edition of the WEDI Monthly Newsletter, please email with
a link to your press release to jennifer@andersoni.com.

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is the leading authority on the use of health IT to improve healthcare information exchange in order to enhance the quality of care, improve efficiency and to reduce costs of the American healthcare system. Formed in 1991 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), WEDI was named in the 1996 HIPAA legislation as an advisor to HHS and continues to fulfill that role today.

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