ANSI HISB facilitates the DHHS's selection of national standards and their adoption by the industry, and it represents U.S. interests in international standards initiatives. The DHHS is expected to issue the final rules for transaction standards in June, and Appavu predicts the final rules for the provider, payor and health plan identifiers will come in the third quarter this year. Adoption of a unique patient identifier has been put on hold until privacy laws are enacted, and such legislation is far from speeding through Congress. Clinical information standards are the most important. A lot of standards relate to financial transactions.
Revenue is important, but it is driven by patient care activities.
We need to improve our efficiency in taking care of patients. When we have proper standards in this area, that's when we will truly begin to see the benefit of standards. HISB also is focusing on development of vocabulary standards across the globe and promoting adoption of ANSI standards by international standards organizations. For that reason, ISO looks to us for leadership. They are developing standards, but they are not put into practice yet.