What is UHIN?

•  UHIN, the Utah Health Information Network, is a coalition of insurers, providers and other groups such as the State government. We operate an electronic network to exchange standardized claims and clinical information provider-to-payer and provider-to-provider. Our mission is to provide the health care consumer with reduced costs and improved quality. We aid in the design and use of Standards to exchange this data.

Why would I want to become a member of UHIN?

•  Reduce your administrative costs:

•  UHIN is an effective way to lower costs in your office by being able to access all Utah payers, thousands of national payers and any other health care provider in Utah from one source.

•  UHIN has the ability to transmit all the HIPAA transactions and any clinical message in an encrypted and secure format.

•  UHIN improves the efficiency of exchanging of clinical information delivery through standardized messages and electronic architecture.

•  UHIN offers its members, at no additional charge , educational seminars that address such topics as HIPAA Transactions, Privacy UHINt (UHIN's free e-transmissions exchange product), clinical exchanges, and Remittance processing. You can view our current training schedule at www.uhin.com under Meetings , then Calendar of Meetings .

•  UHIN offers its members bi-annual Provider Educational Fairs, bringing to your location in-person seminars on the hot topics of electronic exchange.

•  Excellent Member Support

•  UHIN provides support through its Help Desk and Member Relations Coordinators . A Member Relations Coordinator is assigned to your geographical area to provide on-site support as needed.

•  UHIN provides members with a monthly newsletter – UHINews – on new products, services and initiatives.

•  Bringing Your Voice to the National Stage

•  UHIN participates on a national level with organizations such as the American Standards College (ASC-X12) which writes the implementation guides, The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), and Health Level 7 (HL7) as well as other healthcare organizations to inform our members and provide an avenue for members' input to these organizations.

•  Participate and Keep Informed on Local Standards

•  You can stay abreast of the development of data standards for additional transactions through participation, the website, newsletters and bi-annual provider fairs.

•  UHIN standards become incorporated into Utah State rule via the Utah Insurance Commissioner's Office.

How do I become a member of UHIN?

•  Complete the following items found at www.uhin.com click Getting Started , then Electronic Commerce Agreement (ECA) :

•  UHINET Electronic Commerce Agreement (ECA)

•  UHINET Attachment A (choose the applicable form: provider, hospital, payer, clearinghouse)

•  UHINet Attachment for UHIN Transactor (UHINt)

•  UHIN Non-Disclosure Agreement

•  Fax them to (801) 466-7169, email to customerservice@uhin.com or mail to UHIN, 151 East 5600 South, Suite 320 , Murray , UT 84107

•  For additional UHIN membership questions, please contact UHIN at (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200

What does it cost me to join UHIN?

• The fees are located on the UHINET Attachment A located at www.uhin.com under Getting Started , then Electronic Commerce Agreement (ECA) . You will want to view the applicable fee schedule that is appropriate to your company: provider, hospital, payer or clearinghouse. If you are unsure, contact Member Service at (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200.
• A non-membership surcharge is applied to any provider or hospital that is not a member of the Utah Medical Association, the Utah Association of Hospital and Health Care Providers, the Rural Hospital Association or Valley Mental Health. These organizations have paid dues as general members of UHIN to provide their membership reduced fees. These non-membership surcharge fees are listed as “non-UMA fee” for providers or an “additional fee” for hospitals on the applicable UHINET Attachment A.

Once I have mailed my contract, what can I expect?

•  When the completed contract has been received, UHIN will then execute the contract within 48 business hours. A copy of this contract along with a letter containing your Trading Partner number, as well as additional information, will be sent to you. These numbers are unique to your organization and need to be kept confidential.

How do I connect with UHIN?

•  There are several options:

•  UHINT : The membership fee entitles UHIN members with a free translation product called UHINT which requires an internet connection

•  ProClaim : Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah provides a free print image translation product called Proclaim. There is no additional fee for this product. It only requires a telephone line to connect.

•  PM Direct Link : Your practice management (PM) system may be already directly linked to UHIN. Check with them or contact us at (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200 or customerservice@uhin.com to verify.

•  Direct Link : Directly though UHINet. Additional information is available on this option upon joining. Please note that if you use an IT service to program this for you, they will need to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement as well.

•  Clearinghouse : You may be using a clearinghouse that is already connected to UHIN. Check with them or contact us at (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200 or customerservice@uhin.com to verify.

Is there anything else I need to do to connect with payers?

•  You will need to contact the payers individually to enroll with them as authorized submitters for each of the transactions that you want to submit. Go to www.uhin.com click Education then Payer Contacts for a list of payer contact information.

What is UHINT?

•  UHINT (UHIN Transactor) is an internet based product that can be used to interface between a medical billing system and UHINet (UHIN's internet portal). UHINT is free to UHIN members.

•  UHINT 2.5 can be used several ways including:

•  PM Generated Transactions : Sending HIPAA compliant administrative transactions. Practice Management systems can sometimes produce an output of the HIPAA transactions. UHINT can then be used to submit those transactions to UHINet II. It is an inexpensive way to connect with the portal. UHINt 2.5 also has the capability to submit other formatted messages to UHINet II including those commonly used in the exchange of clinical related information including: HL7, PDF, DICOM, TIF, NCPDP, and many others.

•  Direct entry of claims : The CMS1500 Form, the UB04 Form and the Dental Claim Form are available for manual entry via UHINT. This allows providers who submit low volumes of claims or providers that do not utilize a practice management system to submit claims electronically.

•  Eligibility and Claim Status transactions : Real time and batch Eligibility and Claims Status transactions in the ASC X12 format are also available on UHINT. The Eligibility Request (270) and Eligibility Response (271) as well as the Claim Status Request (276) and Claim Status Response (277) can be sent and received using UHINT. This means that you can send an Eligibility Request and receive an eligibility response from participating UHIN payers/payers within 30 seconds. UHINT also has expanded screens for Eligibility and Claims status that help you to ask more detailed questions such i.e. has the deductible been met, is a co-payment required or does a specific service require prior authorization.

•  UHINT Training : There is an educational seminar taught by UHIN staff that members are encouraged to attend. The class reviews downloading UHINT from the internet, completing the set-up process and using the current UHINt edition. Educational courses are listed on the UHIN website ( www.uhin.com ) under the Meetings, then Calendar of Meetings link. Please contact UHIN to reserve seats for the seminar. There is no charge for current UHIN members.

•  UHINT Users Guide: UHIN also has a UHINT User's Guide that can be found on the UHIN website. Members wanting access to the user guide will need a password. Please contact UHIN at (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200 to obtain this password. For more information about using UHINT, please contact UHIN at (801) 466-7705 7705 Ext. 200.

What if I still have questions after the software has been installed?

•  You can contact the UHIN Help Desk at (801) 333-2900 or 1-888-344-5583, Monday through Friday, from 8a.m. – 5p.m, Mountain Time.

•  You can also schedule a visit from a Member Relations Coordinator by calling (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200.

What do I need to do when a provider has been added to the practice?

•  First, call UHIN at (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200 from 8a.m. – 5p.m, Mountain Time, so that your contract can be updated. Your trading partner number can be sub-divided to separate your reports.

•  Second, call each of the UHIN payers and let them know that you will be submitting claims and transactions for another provider. They will give you directions for ensuring that your new provider will be added to their lists. You can find a contact person for each payer at www.uhin.com then Education then Payer Contacts.

•  If you are interested in exchanging clinical information, contact (801) 466-7705 Ext. 200 , and they will arrange training for you.

Why is it important for me to balance my administrative reports daily?

•  One of the advantages of submitting claims through UHIN is that you receive confirmation from each payer (administrative reports) for each claim submitted regarding whether the claim was accepted or rejected by the payer. This is extremely important for timely-filing issues.

•  Your reports are a way that the payer can communicate back to you regarding the transmission of data. These reports include the acceptance and rejection of batches of claims, acceptance and rejection of individual claims, claim status information and claims payment information.

•  By balancing reports daily, you can be assured that the payer has received all your transactions and that you have identified which claims need further work. The Claim Acknowledgement Report can also tell you why a claim was rejected, assisting you in resubmitting the claim efficiently.

•  Reconciling reports is important because it enables you to track any transmission errors or payer front-end rejections that need to be resolved promptly.

•  By timely posting of payments, you can significantly reduce your Accounts Receivables

•  Sending electronic requests on the status of open claims (the Claims Status Transaction) can decrease the time you spend on the telephone with payers.

•  Using the Eligibility Transaction can both decrease the amount of time you spend of the phone and can decrease the financial risk providers have when treating a patient with uncertain insurance coverage.

•  UHIN offers classes on all the administrative transactions to help you understand how to best fit them into your practice .

Please contact UHIN at (801) 466-7705 or customerservice@uhin.com if you have any other questions.