Melissa Data Offers Address Verification Tools for HIPAA Compliance

Melissa Data Corp, a developer of high performance data quality and address management solutions, offers address verification solutions that can help organizations prepare for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) 5010 standards that go into effect January 1st, 2012.

The goal of the mandate is to protect individuals’ health information, but to also improve the reporting of clinical data. To this effect, HIPAA 5010 includes changes to the address data that needs to be collected and transmitted in a transaction; specifically health care providers who submit claims electronically will now be required to provide the following:

• 9-digit ZIP™ codes:Providers must provide a full 9-digit ZIP Code™ for billing provider and service facility locations on all claim submissions. When the full 9-digit ZIP Code is required, spaces or zeroes are not valid in the last four digits of the ZIP Code.
• Billing provider address:  Prohibited use of a PO Box™ for the billing provider address.
• Pay-to-provider address:  This is required when different than the billing provider.

“To help healthcare providers, and those in supporting industries, keep pace with the myriad of compliance requirements, Melissa Data has a number of tools that can verify an address is correct and then append the +4 code for a complete 9-digit ZIP Code,” said Greg Brown, director of marketing for Melissa Data.

Depending on a provider’s processing and compliance requirements, Melissa Data offers different types of address verification tools, from Web services that require no programming or manual updating, to local software and APIs that can be integrated into the provider’s custom applications. The company’s newest solution is a data quality appliance called the Contact Verification Server. This Dell®-built appliance can process over 7 million records per hour and data never leaves the premises for maximum security.

Since 1985, Melissa Data has been a leading provider of contact data quality and enrichment solutions, with an emphasis on address and phone verification, postal encoding and data enhancements. Their product line includes mailing and shipping software, Web Services, and a variety of databases that empower customers to achieve quality U.S., Canadian, and international contact information for their point-of-entry or batch applications.