January 1 HIPAA Deadline Has Wide Impact


Every day tens of thousands of encrypted data transactions occur between health care providers, pharmacies, insurers, medical billing services, and employers who provide worker health coverage. Everyone in the United States covered by health or dental insurance depends on the automation, accuracy, and security of these largely unnoticed data streams to verify eligibility and process payments for nearly all medical services. Definition of messaging standards for these transactions are mandated by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), passed in 1992 and administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. By January 1, 2012, all health care enterprises covered under HIPAA are required to transfer data in version 5010, the latest HIPAA standard, based on ANSI X12.

Migrating Existing Data Formats To and From the Latest Standards

Altova MapForce is a powerful and flexible tool used by developers and IT professionals in many industries to automate today’s complex data conversions. The screenshot below shows a portion of a real-world example of a complex HIPAA data mapping in Altova MapForce from one state’s ANSI X12 eligibility file to integrate membership file data for public sector healthcare.  

HIPAA Data Mapping

Altova MapForce 2012 enables visual mapping to and from all transaction sets that are required to comply with HIPAA regulations. If you are a developer working for an organization in the healthcare industry, you can map HIPAA messages to or from XML, databases, flat files, Excel 2007+, and Web services, then generate royalty-free code in Java, C#, or C++ for your data transformation to integrate internal healthcare data formats and the HIPAA standards. MapForce includes an example mapping from a HIPAA message to XML format, along with a sample data file and XML schema, so you can generate XML output using the MapForce built-in execution engine. The screen shot below shows the MapForce example mapping, including the pop-up help available by rolling the cursor over any HIPAA message element.   MapForce HIPAA example mapping MapForce allows users to apply mathematical, string, or logical functions, and other conversions, as data is transformed between the source and destination, illustrated by the parse-date function at the bottom center of the mapping image. Of course, privacy issues forbid distribution of an actual patient health care record, so the MapForce example HIPPA message content shown below is describing a fictitious person, but the message format is valid and the example is an effective demonstration of mapping functionality. When you click the Output button at the bottom of the mapping window, MapForce extracts the selected fields from the sample HIPAA message and transforms them to the XML version.   XML Output from HIPAA example For one-time data conversion needs, MapForce lets you save the results displayed in the Output window. MapForce also integrates with Altova StyleVision to apply style sheets that format data mapping output to HTML, RTF, PDF, or Microsoft Word formats.

HIPAA Message Formats Supported by MapForce

MapForce supports version 5010 for all the following key X12 transaction types included in the HIPAA January 1, 2012 mandate:

  • 270-B1 — Health Care Eligibility Benefit Inquiry
  • 271-B1 — Health Care Eligibility Benefit Response
  • 276-A1 — Health Care Claim Status Request
  • 277-A1 — Health Care Information Status Notification
  • 277-B3 — Health Care Claim Acknowledgement
  • 278-A1 — Health Care Services Review – Request for Review
  • 278-A3 — Health Care Services Review – Response
  • 820-A1 — Payroll Deducted and Other Group Premium Payment for Insurance Products
  • 834-A1 — Benefit Enrollment and Maintenance
  • 835-W1 — Health Care Claim Payment/Advice
  • 837-Q1 — Health Care Claim – Professional
  • 837-Q2 — Health Care Claim – Dental
  • 837-Q3 — Health Care Claim – Institutional
  • 999-A1 — Implementation Acknowledgement for Health Care Insurance

You can also use the example mapping to generate code and compile it to experiment with interfacing a data mapping application to your existing health care records infrastructure.   MapForce code generation menu HIPAA data mapping is only one application for the any-to-any graphical data mapping, conversion, and integration functionality of Altova MapForce. If you are interested in trying MapForce for your next data conversion project, you can click here to download a fully functional 30-day trial.

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Altova MissionKit 2012 Released Today


Fall is bringing cooler temps, shorter days, and beautiful foliage to us here in the Eastern US and parts near and far. As we celebrate the changing season with fresh apple cider and warm sweaters, we’ve also been working hard to deliver Altova Software Version 2012. This year, Altova’s fall release brings support for HTML5 and CSS3, enhanced functionality for ETL applications, new Java-friendly options, Model Driven Architecture, and more, to the MissionKit software tool suite. clip_image001 Let’s take a look at the new features in detail here, starting with tools that help developers and designers take advantage of HTML5 to create more sophisticated Web pages and apps.

HTML5 and CSS3

The latest version of the lingua franca for publishing content on the Web includes numerous improvements, from enhanced handling of multimedia content to increased interoperability. As Web developers transition to HTML5, they’ll need an intelligent HTML editor that can provide context-sensitive editing guidance and other time-saving features. XMLSpy 2012 adds support for HTML5 in its HTML editor with entry helpers and drop down menus that offer valid choices based on your cursor location, and an integrated Browser View. It’s also lightning fast to test your edits in multiple browsers directly from the HTML editor. Other features such as integrated project management and support for popular version/source control systems – as well as SharePoint® Server support – make XMLSpy a powerful tool for HTML development. clip_image002 For web designers and developers looking to create HTML5 pages from XML, database, or even XBRL content using a graphical, drag and drop design tool, StyleVision 2012 also supports HTML5 for creating stylesheets and reports. Both XMLSpy 2012 and StyleVision 2012 also support CSS3 styles to complement the new HTML5 functionality.

Enhanced functionality for ETL

The MapForce 2012 data mapping tool now supports streaming reading of files, a crucial feature for ETL (Extract/Transform/Load) applications. When executing data mapping projects, the built-in MapForce engine can now read extremely large XML, CSV, and FLF files and create correspondingly large output streams. MapForce can even theoretically read an entire relational database in a single pass and generate an XML or other output file at once. This new support makes MapForce a highly effective, lightweight, and scalable tool for ETL. It’s also uniquely affordable, whether purchased as part of the MissionKit tool suite or individually.

New options for Java developers

The Altova MissionKit is designed to support users in their preferred development environment, whatever that may be. To that end we’ve added some new Java-friendly options, including support for JDBC database drivers in all database-enabled products. clip_image003 We’ve also introduced a completely redesigned, native Java API for automating the functionality of Altova MissionKit tools in custom applications. This revamped Java API joins the existing COM API, and the products also ship with code samples in various programming language to get you started using the APIs right away.

Model Driven Architecture (MDA)

In response to requests from our UModel customers, we’ve added support for MDA in Version 2012 of our UML modeling tool. Utilizing a Model Driven Architecture approach to software engineering in UModel provides two primary advantages:

  • During the design phase, developers do not need to be concerned with the details and variations between software languages
  • An existing UModel project can be transformed from one source code language to another. For instance, a UML model for a C# application can become a Java or Visual Basic project

clip_image004 Model Transformation can even be applied to projects that are reverse engineered from existing source code. For instance, an existing Java application can be reverse-engineered by UModel to create a UML model that can be transformed to generate C# classes.

Upgrade info

Check out the rest of the features added in the MissionKit 2012. This new version is free to download and install for customers with Support and Maintenance. If you’re not already a customer, you can download a free, fully functional 30-day trial.

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XML Development with Database Integration


Did you know that XMLSpy connects to relational databases? One of the most compelling features of the Altova MissionKit is that numerous tools in the suite include offer deep integration with relational databases, providing seamless access to back end data for bi-directional conversion, integration, analysis, and reporting. image Let’s take a look at what you can do when you connect XMLSpy to your databases. Other database-enabled MissionKit tools will be covered in subsequent posts.All popular relational databases are supported in XMLSpy:

  • Microsoft® SQL Server® 2000, 2005, 2008
  • IBM DB2® 8, 9
  • Oracle® 9i, 10g, 11g
  • Sybase® 12
  • MySQL® 4, 5
  • PostgreSQL 8
  • Microsoft Access 2003, 2007

First step: Connect to and query the database

When you select Query Database from the DB menu, XMLSpy helps you connect to your database with the step-by-step Database Connection Wizard. Then, the DB Query window makes it easy to explore and/or edit data in the database you’re working with, either by opening existing SQL files or creating SQL scripts from scratch using drag-and-drop and auto-complete functionality. Once you execute your query, you can edit the database data in the results window, review changed fields (highlighted in pink), and commit the changes back to the database. Querying a database in XMLSpy

Next: Convert between XML and databases

Another common requirement is converting between XML and database models, and XMLSpy supports this in both directions. You can easily export database data to XML. If no schema is required, you can simply export the data to XML in its basic tabular format. Or, you can use the Create XML Schema from DB Structure option first, then import database data maintaining all the relationships and dependencies defined in the content model. Numerous options are available to specify the format of the schema, whether columns should be imported as elements or attributes, and the database constraints that should be generated in the XML Schema. Get schema from DB data Or, to go in the other direction, it’s just as easy to go from XML to a relational model in XMLSpy. The Export to Database dialog (accessed via the Convert menu) allows you to specify where to start the export, how to handle export fields, and which elements to include. Then, the data is instantly converted and stored in your database. image For times when you want to define a database with the same rules as an existing XML Schema, the Create DB Structure from XML Schema dialog lets you do so with numerous options. Any identity constraints included in the schema will automatically transfer to the database structure. Alternatively, it’s easy to define relationships between elements manually. Learn more about all these features for working with XML and databases in XMLSpy, or check out all the database tools available in the MissionKit.

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