EHNAC Collaborates with the Cooperative Exchange to Enhance the Accreditation Process

FARMINGTON, Conn. and BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 13, 2016 -- The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization and accrediting body, and Cooperative Exchange (CE), the National Health Clearinghouse Association representing organizations in the healthcare information technology and transaction industry, announce today that the organizations are collaborating to offer discounted EHNAC accreditation and reaccreditation annual fees for all Cooperative Exchange members. Additionally, Cooperative Exchange is collaborating with EHNAC and others to identify opportunities to enhance and streamline accreditation and eliminate redundancies within the privacy and security audit processes.

“Privacy and security are integral parts of a clearinghouse’s commitment to payers and providers to ensure the secure exchange of healthcare information,” said Cooperative Exchange President Sherry Wilson. “This Membership Affinity Agreement with EHNAC will provide our member clearinghouses a tangible benefit, and we look forward to collectively working with EHNAC and others to raise awareness to member clearinghouses and the healthcare industry at-large regarding the redundancies between and among the number of third-party privacy and security audits, clearinghouses are required to comply with upon request of its clients.” 

The EHNAC criteria for each of its accreditation programs set the foundational requirements for measuring an organization’s ability to meet federal and state healthcare reform mandates such as HIPAA, Omnibus, ARRA/HITECH, ACA and other mandates for covered entities and business associates focusing on the areas of privacy, security, confidentiality, best practices, procedures and assets.

EHNAC Executive Director Lee Barrett added: “Our longstanding relationship with the Cooperative Exchange has been extremely valuable, as many Cooperative Exchange leaders and member organizations are integral parts of our own advisory, criteria and other committees. The natural progression of our relationship was one in which we recognize the synergies and look for ways in which we can make our processes the most efficient and effective for everyone. We look forward to working closely with Cooperative Exchange on those endeavors in 2016.”

About EHNAC

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization (SDO) established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include accountable care organizations, cloud-enabled service providers, data registries, electronic health networks, EPCS vendors, eprescribing solution providers, financial services firms, health information exchanges, health information service providers, management service organizations, medical billers, outsourced service providers, payers, practice management system vendors and third-party administrators.

EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit www.ehnac.org, contact [email protected], or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

About The Cooperative Exchange, National Clearinghouse Association  

The Cooperative Exchange was established in 2002 to promote and advance electronic data exchange for the healthcare industry by improving efficiency, advocacy, and education to industry stakeholders and government entities. Cooperative Exchange clearinghouse member companies represent over 90% of the clearinghouse industry and process annually over 4 billion plus  claims representing $1.1 trillion, from over 750,000 provider organizations, through more than 7,000 payer connections and 1,000 HIT vendors. The Cooperative Exchange truly represents the healthcare industry EDI highway infrastructure across all lines of healthcare business in this country. For more information, visit www.cooperativeexchange.org.

Press contact information:
Dave Anderson, Anderson Interactive, 678-401-2991
[email protected]

Debra Hopkinson, EHNAC, 860-408-1620
[email protected]