[Federal Register: November 22, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 224)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 70574-70575]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22no05-25]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
45 CFR Part 162
[CMS-0050-N]
RIN 0938-AK62
HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Standards for Electronic
Health Care Claims Attachments; Extension of Comment Period
ACTION: Notice of extension of comment period for proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: This notice extends the comment period for a proposed rule
published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2005 (70 FR 55990)
that would recommend the adoption of a set of standards to facilitate
the electronic exchange of clinical and administrative data to further
improve the claims adjudication process when additional documentation
is required. Due to the very technical nature of this rule, the
industry is asking for additional time to conduct a more comprehensive
and thorough review in order to provide comments to the Standards
Development Organizations as well as to CMS. The comment period is
extended for 60 days.
DATES: The comment period is extended to 5 p.m. on January 23, 2006.
ADDRESSES: In commenting, please refer to file code CMS-0050-P. Because
of staff and resource limitations, we cannot accept comments by
facsimile (FAX) transmission.
You may submit comments in one of four ways (no duplicates,
please):
1. Electronically. You may submit electronic comments on specific
issues in the September 23, 2005 proposed rule to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/regulations/ecomments.
(Attachments should be in
Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or Excel; however, we prefer Microsoft
Word.)
2. By regular mail. You may mail written comments (one original and
two copies) to the following address ONLY: Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention:
CMS-0050-P, P.O. Box 8014, Baltimore, MD 21244-8014.
Please allow sufficient time for mailed comments to be received
before the close of the comment period.
3. By express or overnight mail. You may send written comments (one
original and two copies) to the following address ONLY: Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services,
Attention: CMS-0050-P, Mail Stop C4-26-05, 7500 Security Boulevard,
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.
4. By hand or courier. If you prefer, you may deliver (by hand or
courier) your written comments (one original and two copies) before the
close of the comment period to one of the following addresses. If you
intend to deliver your comments to the Baltimore address, please call
telephone number (410) 786-7195 in advance to schedule your arrival
with one of our staff members. Room 445-G, Hubert H. Humphrey Building,
200 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201; or, 7500 Security
Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.
(Because access to the interior of the HHH Building is not readily
available to persons without Federal Government identification,
commenters are encouraged to leave their comments in the CMS drop slots
located in the main lobby of the building. A stamp-in clock is
available for persons wishing to retain a proof of filing by stamping
in and retaining an extra copy of the comments being filed.)
Comments mailed to the addresses indicated as appropriate for hand
or courier delivery may be delayed and received after the comment
period.
For information on viewing public comments, see the beginning of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lorraine Doo, 410-786-6597.
Submitting Comments: We welcome comments from the public on all
issues set forth in the September 23, 2005 proposed rule to assist us
in fully considering issues, developing policies and adopting
standards. You can assist us by referencing the file code CMS-0050-P
and the specific ``issue identifier'' that precedes the section on
which you choose to comment.
Inspection of Public Comments: All comments received before the
close of the comment period are available for viewing by the public,
including any personally identifiable or confidential business
information that is included in a comment. CMS posts all comments
received before the close of the comment period on its public Web site
as soon as possible after they have been received. Comments received
timely will be available for public inspection as they are received,
generally beginning approximately 3 weeks after publication of a
document, at the headquarters of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244, Monday
through Friday of each week from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. To schedule an
appointment to view public comments, phone 1-800-743-3951.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 23, 2005, we published a
proposed rule in the Federal Register (70 FR 55990) that would
recommend the adoption of a set of standards to facilitate the
electronic exchange of clinical and administrative data to further
improve the claims adjudication process when additional documentation
is required. This rule proposes two X12N transaction standards: One to
request the information, and one to respond to that request with the
answer or additional information. This rule also proposes the use of
Health Level 7 (HL7) specifications for the content and format of
communicating the actual clinical information. Finally, this rule
proposes the adoption of the Logical Observation Identifiers, Names and
Codes or LOINC[supreg] for specific identification of the additional
information being requested, and the coded answers that respond to the
requests. Due to the highly technical nature of the materials, and the
size (length) of the technical documents being reviewed, we want to
provide additional time for the industry to review and comment upon all
of the technical documents (implementation guides, specifications, code
sets, modifiers), and the policies proposed in the September 23, 2005
proposed rule.
Due to the complexity of this proposed rule, the length of time
[[Page 70575]]
between the development of the proposed standards and the publication
of this proposed rule, the potential need to upgrade the data content
of the specifications or the use of Release 2 of the Clinical Document
Architecture (CDA), numerous members of the industry and professional
associations have requested more time to analyze the potential impact
and consequences of the proposed rule. Thus, we have decided to extend
the comment period for an additional 60 days. This document announces
the extension of the public comment period to January 23, 2006.
Authority: Secs. 1173 and 1175 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1302d-2 and 1320d-4).
Dated: November 9, 2005.
Mark B. McClellan,
Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Dated: November 17, 2005.
Michael O. Leavitt,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-23077 Filed 11-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P