Sec. 162.900  Compliance dates of the initial implementation of the code
sets and transaction standards.

(a) Health care providers. A covered health care provider must
comply with the applicable requirements of subparts I through N of this
part no later than October 16, 2002.

(b) Health plans. A health plan must comply with the applicable
requirements of subparts I through R of this part no later than one of
the following dates:

(1) Health plans other than small health plans--October 16, 2002.
(2) Small health plans--October 16, 2003.

(c) Health care clearinghouses. A health care clearinghouse must
comply with the applicable requirements of subparts I through R of this
part no later than October 16, 2002.

Sec. 162.910  Maintenance of standards and adoption of modifications and
 new standards.

(a) Designation of DSMOs. (1) The Secretary may designate as a DSMO
an organization that agrees to conduct, to the satisfaction of the
Secretary, the following functions:

(i) Maintain standards adopted under this subchapter.

(ii) Receive and process requests for adopting a new standard or
modifying an adopted standard.

(2) The Secretary designates a DSMO by notice in the Federal
Register.

(b) Maintenance of standards. Maintenance of a standard by the
appropriate DSMO constitutes maintenance of the standard for purposes of
this part, if done in accordance with the processes the Secretary may
require.

(c) Process for modification of existing standards and adoption of
new standards. The Secretary considers a recommendation for a proposed
modification to an existing standard, or a proposed new standard, only
if the recommendation is developed through a process that provides for
the following:

(1) Open public access.

(2) Coordination with other DSMOs.

(3) An appeals process for each of the following, if dissatisfied
with the decision on the request:

(i) The requestor of the proposed modification.

(ii) A DSMO that participated in the review and analysis of there quest for the proposed modification, or the proposed new standard.

(4) Expedited process to address content needs identified within the industry, if appropriate.

(5) Submission of the recommendation to the National Committee onVital and Health Statistics (NCVHS).

Sec. 162.915  Trading partner agreements.

A covered entity must not enter into a trading partner agreement
that would do any of the following:

(a) Change the definition, data condition, or use of a data element
or segment in a standard.

(b) Add any data elements or segments to the maximum defined data
set.

(c) Use any code or data elements that are either marked ``not
used'' in the standard's implementation specification or are not in the
standard's implementation specification(s).

(d) Change the meaning or intent of the standard's implementation
specification(s).