Regulations

There are four unique identifiers proposed by HIPAA:

• Employer Identifier
• Provider Identifer
• Payer (Health Plan) Identifer
• Individual Identifer

Of these four identifiers, the Employer Identifier has been finalized as of 7/30/2002 (covered entities must implement it by 7/30/2004, 8/1/2005 for small health plans), and the Provider Identifier has been finalized as of 1/23/2004 (covered entities must implement it by 5/23/2007, 5/23/2008 for small health plans). A proposed standard has been issued for the Payer Identifier, and the Individual Identifier is still pending.

Requirements

In general, covered entities must apply for an identifier, and implement it in their transactions.