DataDirect announced its DataDirect XML Converters are being used by leading healthcare organizations to comply with the X12 electronic data interchange (EDI) and Health Level Seven (HL7) clinical and administrative data standards in an effort to accelerate application development efforts, enhance operational efficiency, reduce overall costs and improve patient service levels.

The healthcare IT landscape consists of disparate enterprise systems that require widespread interoperability of critical applications that interact within a local, regional and national health information network.  With such diverse data requirements and ever-evolving interchange standards like X12 and HL7, healthcare payers and providers are looking for technologies that ease data integration efforts, provide real-time data access and maintain the accuracy and integrity of patient data and health information.

DataDirect XML Converters deliver bi-directional, highly-scalable software that efficiently streams EDI, flat files or other legacy data formats as XML, making data accessible to virtually any application in the healthcare enterprise. The high-performance Java and .NET components can convert legacy data formats into XML and back without a major re-architecting of a healthcare organization’s applications – transforming thousands of EDI and flat-file formats to XML and back with little or no development time or expense.

“As the leader in software and services for the healthcare benefits market, we provide market leading software and services that help benefits providers, employers and individuals manage complex decisions in an ever-changing healthcare environment,” said Don Taylor, Benefitfocus Vice President of Engineering. “By leveraging the DataDirect XML Converters, we can further streamline the business technologies of healthcare and improve the exchange of vital information among our key constituents – carriers, brokers, employer groups and consumers.”

Healthcare payers and providers use DataDirect XML Converters to help expedite the following scenarios and deliver timely and effective patient care:

• Benefit enrollment and maintenance
• Coverage eligibility and core authorizations
• Claims submissions and status inquiries
• Claims payment and notifications
• Clinical care management

“With its support for past, present and future X12 and HL7 EDI standards, DataDirect XML Converters enable healthcare organizations to modernize or enhance their existing EDI technology by allowing for scalable, automated conversion between EDI and XML,” said Dr. Carlo Innocenti, XML Program Manager at DataDirect Technologies. “By leveraging the proven reliability of DataDirect XML Converters, healthcare organizations enjoy enhanced developer productivity, reduced costs and faster time-to-market for new IT functionality.”

DataDirect XML Converters offer a highly scalable streaming architecture to exceed the most demanding healthcare and enterprise system requirements.  In addition to X12 and HL7 membership and product availability, DataDirect supports other industry-specific standards including IATA and EDIFACT and looks to align itself with new and emerging standards as they become available.