I really enjoyed Rachel's comment on the real benefits (see quote from her piece below). We have successfully lobbied our Health System to let us implement T&CS in such a way that we can truly take advantage of EDI to streamline the business office processes -- but I would also have to add an additional caution. Once we get common standard definitions for terms, get common agreement on the envelop & identification loops, and even get some commonality in communicating the trading partner EDI information, we in the provider realm must then get our IT vendors to build / modify our systems to match our new business paradigms (the sky in our world is mostly gray...). Dave
"The reality is - and other industries have learned this over the years - that the real benefits of EDI lie not in the mere exchange of electronic information, but in truly improving (redesigning) the underlying business processes." -- Rachel Foerster Dave Minch T&CS Project Manager John Muir / Mt. Diablo Health System Walnut Creek, CA (925) 941-2240
