For several years, CDA representatives have participated in discussions with the Health Industry Electronic Commerce Association (HIEC), a group representing insurance companies, in the development of standards for online submission of health-related claims.
Current discussions centre on CDA’s security concerns related to HIEC’s CCD-WS transport protocol. Introduced in 2012, the CCD-WS is a technology used to transport dental claims directly to insurance carriers on the internet, making it an alternative to ITRANS.
Geoff Valentine, CDA manager of health informatics services, explains, “In order to protect the electronic identities of dentists, CDA would like to see the secure ‘electronic envelope’ of the claim message uniquely identify the dentist sending the claim—something that isn’t possible with the proposed implementation.”
CDA remains optimistic that an agreement with HIEC will be reached that meets accepted practices for secure online communication of health-related information.
For more details about the CCD-WS protocol and its potential implications on dentistry in Canada, see www.cda-adc.ca/en/members/practice_management/cdanet/.