WEDI announced the release of a wide-ranging set of industry best practices, entitled Electronic Payments: Guiding Principles. Developed by a multi-stakeholder ePayments Taskforce that included representatives from the health plan, provider, clearinghouse, banking and government sectors, the guidance addresses concerns raised by respondents of WEDI’s ERA/EFT survey in early Spring 2016.
The ERA/EFT survey found that about 25 percent of provider organizations reported paying fees for use of the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) transaction. In addition, a full 40 percent were required to accept payment from a health plan in the form of a “virtual” credit card — a 16-digit credit card number sent to the provider for processing through their card terminal, with the provider responsible for all associated transaction fees. In establishing a consensus-driven set of principles that each impacted stakeholder can review and adopt through this document, WEDI anticipates driving increased use of ACH EFT, while at the same time establishing guidelines for the use of alternative payment options such as these virtual credit cards.
“WEDI’s mission is clear – identify opportunities for industry collaboration that lead directly to operational efficiencies in the healthcare environment,” stated Charles Steller, WEDI president and CEO. “In support of that mission, we have developed the ePayments Principles to create a foundation for expanded use of the automated payment transaction, while at the same time instituting a framework for the appropriate use of alternative payment methodologies.”
“The benefits of using ACH EFT in healthcare are well established. The government estimates that the savings of using ACH EFT and electronic remittance advice (ERA) standards and operating rules is as much as $4.5 billion for government and commercial health plans, hospitals, physician practices and others over ten years,” said Jay Eisenstock, head of provider solutions for Aetna and co-chair of the WEDI ePayments Taskforce. “However, provider adoption has not been as rapid as many had hoped due to reluctance to modify existing workflows or purchase supporting software. We are hopeful that the ePayments Principles will serve as a catalyst for increased industry use of this important transaction.”
In addition to the general introduction to issues related to electronic payments and an outline of the various epayments federal mandates, the document identifies fourteen recommended guiding principles to which all impacted stakeholders are encouraged to adhere regarding the implementation and ongoing use of epayments. The principles were developed to guide the industry in the use of all epayment methodologies and leverage the advantages of the administrative simplification opportunities associated with use of the ACH EFT and ERA standards and operating rules.
For more information on WEDI’s industry efforts surrounding electronic funds transfer, please visit the WEDI EFT Workgroup page.
