Clouds and rainbows on the HIPAA horizon.

In the planning phase for several years, the administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) finally appear ready for implementation. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) expects that the major HIPAA measures will be released in late 1999. For group practices, it is expected that implementation of these provisions will be complicated and consume significant amounts of time and money. Still, the end result should justify the effort.