As the Sept. 23 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Omnibus Rule compliance date approaches, the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization and accrediting body, has announced the adoption of new program criteria that supports this legislation.

The final criteria released by EHNAC come after a 60-day public comment period where it incorporated feedback. In May, EHNAC posted criteria for its accreditation programs that addressed HIPAA, cloud computing, and health information exchange, and ePrescribing. All of those programs, from back in May, were updated and finalized.

“As healthcare stakeholders strive to keep pace with emergent reimbursement structures and ongoing regulatory changes, criteria standards must evolve to ensure EHNAC accreditation programs remain ahead of the curve. With enforcement efforts for the new HIPAA Omnibus Rule beginning September 23, 2013, accredited organizations that comply with the new criteria can now assure their customers that their patient’s protected health information (PHI) remains secure and aligns with regulatory requirements,” EHNAC Commissioner and Criteria Committee Chair Mark Gingrich said in a statement.

The range of programs that EHNAC updated and finalized include:

1. ePAP – e-Prescribing Accreditation Program (V6.5)
2. EPCSCP-Pharmacy – Electronic Prescription of Controlled Substances Certification Program – Pharmacy Vendor¹ (V1.1)
3. EPCSCP-Prescribing – Electronic Prescription of Controlled Substances Certification Program – Prescribing Vendor¹ (V1.1)
4. FSAP-EHN – Financial Services Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Networks (V2.5)
5. FSAP-Lockbox – Financial Services Accreditation Program for Lockbox Services (V2.5)
6. HIEAP – Health Information Exchange Accreditation Program (V1.3)
7. HNAP-EHN – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Networks [Includes Payer] (V10.5)
8. HNAP-Medical Biller – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for Medical Billers (V1.4)
9. HNAP-TPA – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for Third Party Administrators (V1.4)
10. MSOAP – Management Service Organization Accreditation Program (V1.3)
11. OSAP – Outsourced Services Accreditation Program² (V1.4)
12. OSAP-HIE – Outsourced Services Accreditation Program for Health Information Exchange Services (V1.3)
13. DTAAP-HISP (NEW) – Direct Trusted Agent Accreditation Program for Health Information Service Providers (V1.0 )
14. DTAAP-CA (NEW) – Direct Trusted Agent Accreditation Program for Certificate Authorities (V1.0)
15. DTAAP-RA (NEW) – Direct Trusted Agent Accreditation Program for Registration Authorities (V1.0)