The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM): Administrative Simplification: Adoption of Standards for Health Care Attachments Transactions and Electronic Signatures, and Modification to Referral Certification and Authorization Transaction Standard.

The timing of the proposed rule coincides with consideration of the new CAQH CORE Attachments Operating Rules for federal mandate by the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS). The CAQH CORE Board encourages healthcare stakeholders to support the simultaneous adoption of the CAQH CORE Attachment Operating Rules for Health Care Claims and Prior Authorization and attachment standards in your comments responding to the NPRM and in feedback to NCVHS.

To help guide your response, several key points that communicate the impact and benefit of concurrent adoption of operating rules with attachment standards can be found here.

The CAQH CORE Attachments Operating Rules establish consistent data content and infrastructure requirements that complement attachment standards. Aligning implementation of operating rules and standards enables more uniform adoption and avoids the perpetuation of costly manual workflows. This is a rare opportunity to align implementation of standards and operating rules and ensure efficient use of industry resources.

Action Items

• Provide Comment for the Attachments Standard NPRM: Directly submit comments or a comment letter to CMS through the federal register here.
• Provide Feedback to NCVHS: Email ncvhsmail@cdc.hhs.gov with the subject line [Comments: Aligning Attachments Operating Rules & Standards].