Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel

Have you heard of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP)?

Let me share a snippet from their "about us" section of their website: "The mission of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel is to serve as a cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors for the purpose of achieving a widely accepted and useful set of standards specifically to enable and support widespread interoperability among healthcare software applications, as they will interact in a local, regional and national health information network for the United States... The Panel's work is driven by a series of priorities (i.e., Use Cases) issued by the American Health Information Community (AHIC). HITSP produces recommendations and reports in Interoperability Specifications and related Constructs. These work products are intended to be equally applicable to the developing Nationwide Health Information Network for the United States (NHIN) and also to community and regional health information exchange networks."

OK, if that didn't impress you, then maybe this will: "HITSP is a strategic partnership established through a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."

On July 9, The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) is identifying the standards that will support the exchange of healthcare information across the United States. Titled, "Health Information Exchange (HIEs) in the Real World," this webinar will cover how HITSP products are being used today by the New England Healthcare EDI Network (NEHEN), Keystone Health Information Exchange (KeyHIE), and Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL). Interested in this free webinar? Click here for more information.

The HITSP is administered by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in cooperation with strategic partners including the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), and Booz Allen Hamilton.

The 5010 Testing Project Collaboration

Have you heard of the 5010 Testing Project Collaboration? It's a major initiative that was conducted in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the CAQH (Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare) and other CAQH participant organizations, HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society), Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Initiative, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA).

The four goals for the 5010 Testing Project included:

• Initiating industry and market momentum for the adoption of the 5010 HIPAA transaction requirements and the complementary CORE rules certification process;
• Providing an avenue to demonstrate current industry capabilities for HIPAA-compliant administrative data exchange with multi-stakeholder participation through the 2009 North American Connect-a-thon and the 2009 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase;
• Highlighting the 5010 testing options in conjunction with the CORE Phase I and II rules testing scripts and testing tools already available to the market; and
• Displaying private-public collaboration, and the critical role that voluntary, private sector-led efforts like HITSP, IHE and CORE play in the national landscape.

I don't think I've ever used so many acronyms in a blog post before! Did you catch all those?

Everyone knows CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). You're probably even familiar with the BCBSA (Blue Cross Blue Shield Association).

How about there health IT acronmys?

• CAQH (Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare)
• CORE (CAQH's Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange)
• HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)
• HITSP (Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel)
  
• IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise)