Peter's paper can be downloaded from http://www.hipaasummit.com/pastwest2/agenda/index.html
Rachel Foerster Principal Rachel Foerster & Associates, Ltd. Professionals in EDI & Electronic Commerce 39432 North Avenue Beach Park, IL 60099 Phone: 847-872-8070 Fax: 847-872-6860 http:/www.rfa-edi.com -----Original Message----- From: William J. Kammerer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 11:32 AM To: WEDi/SNIP ID & Routing Subject: Re: Are only 15 characters in the ISA receiver ID enough? Dave: I took a look at my insurance card for Anthem Community Choice, and besides my ID no. and group name, the BC/BS plan code of 332/834 (Inst. vs. Professional) appears on the front. There're also the usual phone numbers, and the claim submission mailing address. So how does a provider (today) know how to go from the respective Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan no. to an EDI Identifier? But I certainly hope *NOT* that "the best identifier of all for discovering the CPP is that contact address or phone number..." I want the payer or plan EDI identifier to appear directly on the insurance card - in order that things can be automated (without phone calls and paper). Speaking of Plans, Peter Barry presented a paper on Identifiers at the HIPAA Summit West in San Francisco last month. Maybe he can be persuaded to share the paper with the group. But anyway, the impression I came away with is that the National Plan ID will appear on the patient's Health Identification Card - and by using the National Plan ID as a key, you can access the National Plan ID database whence you're cross linked to the entities processing those plans (e.g., payers, employers, Third party administrators). If those cross links were to CPPs, then the National Plan ID database itself would supplant any need for a separate CPP Registry for payers. However, I wouldn't bet the farm on the possibility there would be any government sponsored databases available and running in time for H-day! - even though the HIPAA Funding proposal in the Bush Budget includes "$34.5 million to implement a system to assign unique identifiers for providers and health plans." William J. Kammerer Novannet, LLC. +1 (614) 487-0320