B2B Data Integration and Transformation Blog

As a healthcare provider, you have a number of tasks. You must ensure the patient becomes healthy so he or she can live a normal life, you have to run your operation in a way that is efficient and cost-effective, and you have to abide by regulations such as HIPAA so that you do not pay hefty financial penalties.

How can you remain HIPAA-compliant and still achieve those other goals? The answer lies in healthcare EDI. Read on to learn about transaction sets, an important component in sending healthcare EDI messages.

The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) created a seismic shift in the American healthcare system with its introduction in 1996. Before that point, there was no national law regarding patient data security. HIPAA also introduced the “EDI Rule,” which requires that any covered entity that transmits data electronically must use EDI.

You have invested a great deal of time and money in your EDI system, but now, you are hearing that blockchain is going to replace EDI completely. You are confused, irritated, and worried. Questions swirl around you, such as, “Will I have to replace my investment, is EDI dead? How does blockchain work, and can it work with EDI?”

Toward the end of May 2018, one of the broadest, most sweeping privacy regulations ever devised will come into effect, the EU's GDPR. Not only will these regulations have a direct impact on European businesses, they will affect companies globally that process or store the personal data of EU citizens living in the EU. Firms that do not comply with GDPR face hefty fines.