Almost all the federal agencies including HHS/CMS have gotten failing or near failing grades from the GAO for network/computer security. I think using the internet is just another portal they will have difficulty keeping secure. There have been serious discussions in DC about building a secured private LAN just for the federal government to get them off of the internet for internal communications.
Regards, David Frenkel Business Development GEFEG USA Global Leader in Ecommerce Tools www.gefeg.com 425-260-5030 -----Original Message----- From: William J. Kammerer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 11:39 AM To: WEDi/SNIP ID & Routing Subject: Medicare says 'no' to using the open internet I came across Christine Stahlecker's presentation entitled "Telecommunication and HIPAA: Issues, Concerns, Recommendations," given at the HIPAA SUMMIT WEST II on March 13 in San Francisco, at http://www.ehcca.com/presentations/HIPAAWest2/stahlecker.ppt. In there, she gives some "buzz" to our modest little work effort. Clearly, Chris shares our vision of Open-EDI and frictionless trading using the Internet, while still accommodating the important role of Clearinghouses in supporting providers and payers. Unfortunately, from what I can gather from one of Chris' bullets, a fly in the ointment is Medicare's (CMS) refusal to entertain use of the Internet for the exchange of standard EDI transactions because of real or perceived security concerns. Unless and until CMS changes its mind and authorizes the use of the Internet to exchange HIPAA transactions with Medicare contractors, we might have to provide some capability in our Delivery Channel ("EDI Address") to accommodate dial-up or leased line protocols - regardless of what I said in "Should we even waste time defining Delivery Channels (EDI Addresses) to accommodate non-IP protocols?" last Tuesday. Does anyone have any inside insight on CMS' resistance to using the Internet for the exchange of standard transactions? William J. Kammerer Novannet, LLC. +1 (614) 487-0320
