Information Technology Security HIPAA Compliance Services

HOME

SECURITY

SERVICES

HIPAA

FORUMS

PARTNERS

Call us today and request a free estimate! Tel. 1-(212)-404-1722

Cygnus Security Corporation is a leading provider of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Compliance and Auditing Services. Our organizational goal is simple. To provide unparalleled, cost efficient professional services to our clients. We assisted hundreds of Medical Facilities and Health Insurance Providers in their efforts to comply with Federal HIPAA Compliance Regulations. Cygnus Security holds our personnel only to the highest levels of standard. It is required by our policies that our HIPAA Compliance Personnel are Certified HIPAA Security Professionals (CHSP). Our staff are unsurpassed experts in their fields and hold various certifications from the leading vendors such as Microsoft®, Cisco®, SUN Microsystems® and (ISC)2® to name a few.

In addition to our HIPAA Compliance Services we also offer a wide spectrum of Information Technology and Security Solutions. You can find more details by clicking on the Services Tab.

We, at Cygnus Security Corporation understand that no two businesses are alike. That is why we ban conventional approach from our modus operandi and instead rely on individual analytics for each and every client. Your business does not need empty promises, high prices, and unmet deadlines. Contrary to many of our competitors, we can't afford to take your business for granted.

We want to earn your business, trust and respect! See how different things are when your Information Technology Solutions Provider has something to prove!

Moving toward Compliance with the Electronic Transactions and Code Sets Requirements The Administrative Simplification Requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) will have a major impact on health care providers who do business electronically as well as many of their health care business partners. Many changes involve complex computer system modifications. Providers need to know how to make their practices compliant with HIPAA. The Administrative Simplification Requirements of HIPAA consist of four parts: 1) Electronic transactions and code sets; 2) Security; 3) Unique identifiers; and 4) Privacy. HIPAA does not require a health care provider to conduct all transactions listed under #1 electronically. Rather, if you are going to conduct any one of these business transactions electronically they will need to be done in the standard format outlined under HIPAA. Whether or not you contract a third party biller or clearinghouse to conduct any of these transactions for you, it is up to you as the health care provider to see to it that your transactions are being conducting in compliance with HIPAA. The checklist provided below is designed to help you start thinking about what you need to do to prepare for meeting the electronic transactions and code sets requirements. 1. Determine, as a health care provider if you are covered by HIPAA If you conduct, or a third party biller or clearinghouse conducts on your behalf, any one of the following business transactions electronically you are most likely covered by HIPAA: Claims or equivalent encounter information Payment and Remittance Advice Claim Status Inquiry/Response Eligibility Inquiry/Response Referral Authorization Inquiry/Response If you do not conduct any one of the above transactions electronically, you are most likely not covered by HIPAA and you do not need to continue with the checklist. Assign a HIPAA Point Person to handle the remaining checklist items Assign a staff person to be your HIPAA Point Person (HPP), such as your office manager, to keep abreast of HIPAA and what is required of your office. Give this individual the authority, resources, and time to prepare for HIPAA changes. Use this staff person to educate others in your office on the impact of HIPAA on your practice. This is an informational checklist and does not constitute legal advice. 3. Familiarize yourself with the key HIPAA deadlines April 16, 2003 – You (or your software vendors) need to start testing your software and computer systems Internally NO later than this date. By testing this means ensuring your software is capable of sending and receiving the transactions you do electronically in the standard HIPAA format. October 16, 2003 – This is the date you must be ready to conduct transactions electronically in the standard HIPAA format with your health plans / payers. 4. How HIPAA Affects What You Do Determine if your software is ready for HIPAA (each health care provider is responsible for making sure the software they use will be compliant with HIPAA according to the key deadlines above).Speak with your practice management software vendors (or billing agent or clearing house if you use one) to assess which items under #1 you conduct on paper and which you conduct electronically. Determine what you will need to do differently. For instance, under HIPAA additional data may be required and data fields you use now may no longer be required. Ask your vendor how and when they will be making HIPAA changes and document this in your files. Remind your vendors you must start testing your systems no later than April 16, 2003. Similarly, if you use a third party billers or clearinghouses, remind them of this testing deadline. 5) Talk to the health plans and payers you bill (especially the ones you bill most frequently) Ask them what they are doing to get ready for HIPAA and what they expect you to do. Ask them if they will have a HIPAA companion guide that specifies their coding and transaction requirements that are not specifically determined by HIPAA (while HIPAA mandates standard transactions, some health plans may not require data elements for every field). For instance, ask your payers for billing instructions on how to code for services that were previously billed using local codes (under HIPAA local codes are eliminated). Ask them whether they will have “Trading Partner Agreements” that specify transmission methods, volumes, and timelines as well as coding and transaction requirements that are not specifically determined by HIPAA. These may also specify how HIPAA compliance testing and certification are to be done. Ask them about testing your software to make sure, for instance, that they will be able to receive a claim you submit with your updated software. If you use software or systems provided by the health plan / payer (such as on-line direct data entry) to conduct transactions, ask whether they intend on continuing to support these systems.

We offer a wide spectrum of individualized services! Find out today what we can do for your business! Info@cygnus-security.com. We are located at: 1192 Gravesend Neck Road, Brooklyn, NY 11229
You can also reach us at 1-(212)-404-1722.