HHS estimates savings from electronic standards at $4.5 billion over decade

New standards for electronic funds transfers in health care will save up to $4.5 billion in administrative costs for doctors and hospitals, private health plans, states and other government health plans over the next ten years, according to estimates published last week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Required by health care reform, the new industry-wide standards allow health providers to use electronic systems for determining eligibility for health coverage and checking the status of a health claim.

An April 2010 study in the journal Health Affairs found that physicians spend nearly 12 percent of every dollar received to cover the costs of filling out forms and performing other complex administrative tasks. The study found simplifying these systems could save four hours per week of professional time per physician and five hours of support staff time every week.

The new rule—the Adoption of Standards for Health Care Electronic Funds Transfers and Remittance Advice — adopts streamlined standards for the format and data content for how health plans transfer payment to banks, which transfer funds electronically to pay claims.

To view the Interim Final Regulation with comment period, go to the regulation website.