Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) documents are electronic documents that contain the same information as would be found in a paper document. For example, an EDI 850 is an electronic purchase order that would contain the same information as found on a purchase order form. EDI document standards support most business and organizations that have a need to exchange electronic business documents. Besides typical business documents, EDI supports medicine, transportation, and construction industries.
Major EDI Document Standards.
There are four major sets of EDI standards to include UN/EDIFACT (International Standard), ANSI ASC X12 (US), TRADACOMS (UK), and ODETTE (European automotive industry). All these major EDI standards emerged in the mid-’80s.
EDIFACT. EDIFACT is an United Nations sponsored standard that is the commonly accepted Electronic Document Exchange (EDI) standard outside of North America. EDIFACT messages are defined and maintained by work groups at the UN. See the EDIFactory listing of EDIFACT Messages with complete descriptions.
ANSI ASC X12. ANSI ASC X12 is the U.S. national standards body for EDI standards. ANSI ASC X12 stands for the “American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee X12″. X12 is the sequential designation assigned by ANSI at the time of accreditation. See EDIGenie.com for a EDI X12 Document Listing with Descriptions.
EDI Document Types Definitions.
EDI Standards. EDI standards such as X12 describe pieces of information that are mandatory and optional for a particular electronic document. Additionally, the standard describes the data structure and rules for a given electronic document. These rules provide general rules for trading partners to exchange a particular set of electronic documents.
EDI Guideline Specifications. In order for two or more trading partners to exchange EDI with each other, they need to agree on exactly how they will implement a given EDI document. Normally, one of the trading partners will provide an EDI implementation guideline that the trading partners will use to implement the EDI standard. Normally, the larger trading partner, like a large retailer or a transportation carrier, will provide an EDI guideline that most trading partners can agree with and implement a specific EDI interface.
HIPPA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. HIPPA requires the establishment of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers. The HIPAA/EDI provision has an open-ended mandate for healthcare organizations to exchange X12 EDI documents. This includes filing electronic claims. HIPAA is a key catalyst for implementing EDI within the healthcare industry. See Wikipedia for more on HIPAA.