It looks like the rollout of the 5010 transaction set for exchanging administrative data between health plans and providers is going to be a reprise of the muddled history of the current 4010 set, which arrived in fits and starts several years ago.

According to a HIMSS survey performed last year, most providers were not yet ready to start testing the 5010 set. Only 38 percent of surveyed healthcare executives said their organizations had on ongoing 5010 project, and 35 percent said they had no plans to implement such a project.

Under the timeline established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), providers and their trading partners are supposed to begin testing 5010 in 2011. On Jan. 1, 2012, everyone will be required to use the new transaction set. The 5010 standards will be needed for transactions involving the new ICD-10 diagnostic system, which is slated to replace the current coding system on Oct. 1, 2013. 

The HIMSS survey also found that: 

• One-third of providers do not expect to have a 5010 project started before the end of 2010.
• Only 40 percent had even started an impact assessment, the first step in preparing for 5010.
• Only 21 percent had an approved project budget.
• Only 15 percent had started contacting their vendors. 

A major obstacle to progress on 5010, nearly half of the respondents reported, was the inability to find knowledgeable IT staff. 

To learn more:
- read the HIMSS press release on the survey
- read the HIMSS fact sheet on the 5010 transaction set
- see a Medical Economics article about the problems with the 4010 transaction set (registration required)