The words “cool” and “HIPAA” are not typically found in the same sentence – or paragraph. But a self-anointed Health Plan Geek stitches them together in a way that folks concerned with HIPAA 5010 might find worthwhile.

In total, HIPAA 5010 brings more than 500 changes, according to CMS (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), which in it's most recent National Provider Conference call listed the 7 benefits of HIPAA 5010.

Taking a look at the CMS FFS (Fee-for-Service) piece of HPAA 5010 specifically, Renee Lin, who blogs as The Health Plan Geek and works as an IT project manager, breaks out what she considers to be four such noteworthy changes that the new standard will bring.

Here they are:

1 CMS FFS will replace proprietary claims acknowledgment with 277CA X12N. “This is good for Providers because they will receive the same format going forward from Health Plans and CMS FFS,” Lin explains.

[Related: 3 more understated aspects of ICD-10, part 2. Podcast: On coder shortages and other ICD-10 challenges.]

2 CMS FFS will generate Claim Numbers up-front. This means that providers will have the number immediately and can use it to inquire about the claim.

3 CMS FFS will be able to receive paper attachments to electronic claims. “This eases the burden on CMS FFS and Providers because it means no extra time is spent looking for paper or proving that an attachment was mailed or faxed,” Lin adds.

4 CMS is going to be ready for 5010 by January 1, 2011. And CMS recommends that payers and providers, too, so they can use the year for external testing to meet the HIPAA 5010 compliance deadline of January 1, 2012.

The first day of 2011 marks CMS' recommended HIPAA 5010 Level 1 compliance, a suggestion and not a mandate, but one that a small ICD10Watch reader poll found 60 percent of health organizations are uncertain about meeting.

Are there any other HIPAA 5010 changes that you're looking forward to?