Harris team will recode VA health care system to meet HIPAA deadline

Harris Corp. has won a five-year, $5.3 million contract from the Veterans Affairs Department to provide disease classification coding remediation.

The award calls for Harris to assist the VA’s Health Administration Center Cache System comply with the new International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems medical coding standards, according to an Oct. 27 company announcement.

ICD codes are used to classify diseases and other medical problems under a single standard and promote international comparability with treatment and billing. As part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Health and Human Services Department has mandated that all covered healthcare entities be ICD-10 compliant by Oct. 1, 2013.

The Harris team, which includes subcontractors 7 Delta Inc. and Vangent Inc., will complete all phases of the ICD-10 integration and software development life cycle.

With the VA’s large patient population, implementation of ICD-10 coding standards will allow the Health Administration Center to produce more accurate records as well as conduct more detailed population assessments and studies, the Harris announcement explained.

Additionally, the ICD-10 migration will improve the center’s payment systems for veterans and their families with more accurate billing information.

Harris Corp., of Melbourne, Fla., ranks No. 13 on Washington Technology’s 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.