ASC X12 Unveils Industry Group Alignment in Support of National Health Reform Policy

The Accredited Standards Committee X12 (ASC X12) announced its alignment with the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) and Linxus which collectively represent hundreds of providers, health plans, pharmacies and systems developers, to ensure consistent interpretation and provide guidance on operationalizing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requirements for standards, implementation guides and operating rules and unified input into the policies being developed to support the goals of the legislation.

Continuing to enhance health care administrative and financial functions has significant potential to lower the cost of doing business for providers, health plans, and pharmacies in the United States. ASC X12, NCPDP, and Linxus are positioned with their existing organizational support structures, knowledge of standards development, and broad industry participation to be able to support the Administration's goal of meaningful savings through administrative simplification.

The participants joined together several months ago to provide technical guidance during the drafting of the various health care reform bills. The group will continue to provide regulators with technical guidance during implementation of the administrative simplification reforms passed as part of PPACA. PPACA's new reform measures build on and strengthen existing administrative simplification laws previously defined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.

These organizations support the need for the development and maintenance of standards that meet the needs of all stakeholders in health care.