B2B Data Integration and Transformation Blog

The supply chain used to be far simpler: it was linear, and you most likely did business with companies that were fairly local to you. That’s not the case today; the supply chain (and especially the healthcare supply chain) is dynamic and interconnected.

While variety might be the spice of life, different formats of data make it difficult to exchange data between healthcare providers and insurance companies. That is why the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) was created.

FHIR has generated a great deal of excitement among vendors in the healthcare IT industry. Read on to learn what it is, why it was developed, and how it is used to improve interoperability in the healthcare ecosystem.

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.

The benefits associated with the use of EDI, such as cost reductions and reduced time of transactions, have improved the healthcare market.  In a recent report on Healthcare Informatics, the EDI healthcare market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.7 percent from 2013 to 2018.  And the total value of the EDI market, inclusive of healthcare, is expected to be $1.68 billion by 2018.  

So why are there still companies "holding" out on investing in their EDI and integration technology?