The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a notice about the Health Level Seven (HL7) International Da Vinci Project's use of alternative standards for health plan transactions under the HIPAA exception process. The Da Vinci Project was granted permission to use the HL7 FHIR Prior Authorization and Coverage Requirements Discovery standards instead of the usual HIPAA standards for certain transactions. This exception allows Da Vinci member organizations, especially healthcare payers, to test if prior authorization is needed using these alternative standards without facing penalties until April 14, 2024. The results and a cost-benefit analysis of this testing were submitted ahead of the deadline and are available online.
Simple Explanation
The government is telling people that some doctors and healthcare companies are testing a new way to check if patients need permission for certain medical things using special computer rules. They are allowed to do this testing without getting in trouble until April 2024.