Realizing what an enormous responsibility this is, Anesthesia ProServ has implemented numerous services and has the appropriate levels of expertise to take the pressure off of our clients. More importantly, remember this: Regardless of your current billing situation, it is imperative to use a billing service that specializes in Anesthesia / Pain Management only and provides the services and levels of expertise listed below. This is a specialized knowledge that not all billing entities possess.

HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This act consists of two parts, Title I and Title II. Title I of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability of 1996 protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs. Title II of HIPAA includes a section called Administrative Simplification, this requires:

• Improved efficiency by standardizing electronic data interchange (EDI).
• Protection of confidentiality and security of health data.

What impact will it have on me or my practice?

HIPAA calls for standardization of electronic patient health, administrative and financial data; unique health identifiers for individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers; security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of "individually identifiable health information", past and present. This means that your practice, your billing service and your information systems vendors must be compliant. Physicians are responsible to ensure that their practices and "business associates" are in compliance and that the necessary steps are being taken to modify or add procedures into existing business and clinical operations. It is advisable to appoint an individual within the practice as a "Privacy Officer" who will have the responsibility to gather all related data to incorporate a detailed implementation plan, and utilize a billing entity who can provide education and advice on the HIPAA requirements in order to ensure that you meet the deadlines. It is also imperative that you ensure that your billing entity is compliant and understands what is required to be compliant. As an anesthesia provider, your top concerns are:

• Procurement of BAA agreements.
• Procurement of authorizations and consents.
• Distribution of privacy practices (who is doing this?) which separate from consent for treatment. You do not need to obtain prior written consent before releasing or using Protected Health Information (PHI).
• Communications with patients (including minors) and other health care providers in coordination patient care.
• Security of data transfer. This can include charts, medical records, billing slips, insurance forms and any other communication related to patient treatment plan and diagnostic data.