Healthcare IT News - September 2008 - (Page 37) www.HealthcareITNews.com payERS September 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 37 benefits industry. Patricelli noted there is a good chance that a Democrat-controlled Congress will pass Rep. John Larson’s (D-Conn.) HR 3947, enabling the rollover of unused FSA funds of up to $500 to the next taxable year. This would allow employees and their families to use their FSAs to help pay for out-of-pocket healthcare costs. If the bill passes, Patricelli said, “This would open up the market.” More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: HUMaNa 0908 Regence signs PBM deal with RelayHealth ATLANTA HumaNa Continued from page 34 - Regence, the largest health insurer in the Northwest/Intermountain Region, will use technology from Atlantabased RelayHealth to support the management of pharmacy benefit programs accounts in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho and nationwide. Regence serves 3 million members as Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueShield (in Washington), Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, and Regence BlueShield of Idaho. ProPBM employs a real-time online transaction processing engine to process prescription drug benefit claims data. Its customer-controlled rules enable the realtime management of formularies, varying co-pay strategies, accumulated benefits, pharmacy networks, clinical edits, steptherapy protocols, drug utilization review, and reimbursement schedules for multiple drug benefit plans simultaneously. “Our goal is to create a flexible and readily accessible claims processing system that enables us to provide an optimal member experience,” said Helen Sherman, chief pharmacy officer of RegenceRx. in the industry, according to Patricelli, auto-substantiating between 80 and 90 percent of FSA transactions completed by third-party administrators in 2008. By automating the process, administrators remove paper and labor-intensive processing costs, he said. “The administration of consumerdirected health plans is so complex,” said Carl Doty, principal analyst at Forrester Research. While today auto-substantiation is required in order to use FSAs and HRA accounts, Doty said legislation could bring health savings accounts into the mix. “If the market does move in this direction, Evolution Benefits stands to win because demand will increase,” he said. That said, payers who already have debit card capabilities will also be well positioned to handle transactions that take funds out of health savings accounts. Patricelli agreed. He said the national healthcare reform expected next year will influence the health insurance employer ● An event so amazing, you don’t have to be there to be there. And it’s all free. More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: reGeNCe 0908 ● IdENTITy Continued from page 1 and to foster ongoing collaboration and communication.” The Office of the National Coordinator announced in June a $450,000 contract with Booz Allen Hamilton to assess and evaluate the scope of the medical identity theft problem in the United States. The consulting firm is also charged with reporting on how healthcare information technology can be used to detect and prevent medical identity theft. The contract award followed a rash of well-publicized medical record privacy breaches across the country. “The prevention and detection of medical identify theft, along with actions to address problems that may occur as a result of medical identity theft, are necessary steps to build consumer trust in electronic health information exchange,” ONC Chief Robert M. Kolodner said, when he announced the contract. “In order to build that trust, all aspects of the problem must be understood including how health IT provides opportunities for prevention, detection, and remediation.” Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum pegs incidents of medical identity theft at about 250,000 a year. California state lawmakers last month moved to impose new oversight and stiffer penalties on hospitals for breaches of patients’ medical records. The proposed medical privacy rules are in response to the recent breaches in which University of California Los Angeles Medical Center employees accessed the confidential records of celebrities. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: IDeNtItY 0908 All the networking. All the education. All the exhibits. All at your desktop. All for free. The HIMSS Virtual Conference & Expo, created in partnership with Healthcare IT News, has grown to become one of our most anticipated events of the year. You and your staff can engage in educational sessions (our November themes are e-Health Leaders and Clinical Informatics), live Q&A and esteemed speakers. Visit a virtual exhibit hall, gather information on the latest breaking technology and chat with vendors. Interact live with other attendees. All at your desktop. All for FREE. Deluxe Exhibitors: Register now. It’s convenient. It’s free. It’s the HIMSS Virtual Conference & Expo. ● November 19-20, 2008 REGISTER FREE TODAY AT www.himssvirtual.org transforming healthcare through IT ™ What steps has your organization taken to prevent security breaches and identity theft? Send your comments to Editor Bernie monegain at bernie. monegain@medtechpublishing.com. http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9904 http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9911 http://www.himssvirtual.org http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9865
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