DataDirect Technologies Announces Support for HIPAA 5010 Electronic Transactions

New DataDirect XML Converters® Version 4.0 Makes Data Conversion and Processing
Easy for Healthcare Payers and Providers; Saves Time and Money
BEDFORD, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
DataDirect Technologies, the unparalleled leader in data connectivity and
mainframe integration and an operating company of Progress Software Corporation
(NASDAQ: PRGS), today announced its DataDirect XML Converters® now support the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) 5010 transaction
definitions established by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the
Department of Health and Human Services in August 2008.

With robust support for X12 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards,
DataDirect Technologies has provided healthcare organizations with a turn-key
solution to modernize or enhance their existing EDI technology by allowing for
scalable, automated conversion between EDI and XML. Building on its existing
support for EDI extensions including X12 and HL7 clinical and administrative
data standards, version 4.0 of the DataDirect XML Converters offers
bi-directional conversion for the latest HIPAA EDI dialects including 004010A1,
005010 and 005010A1 messages.

An integral component of the DataDirect® Data Integration Suite, 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.

"The aggressive April 1, 2010 compliance date for the 5010 HIPAA transaction
standards and the high-costs associated with the implementation of the code set
will have a profound impact on the operations of healthcare organizations," said
Dr. Carlo Innocenti, senior XML program manager for DataDirect Technologies.
"DataDirect has responded, creating a robust data dictionary for HIPAA-compliant
message types that allows users to accelerate the exchange of health-related
information, enhanced operational efficiency and reduce costs associated with
development and implementation efforts."

In a recent survey of healthcare providers conducted by DataDirect Technologies,
more than half of the respondents indicated they were still struggling with
efficient claims processing and/or payment with 79 percent of respondents
processing claims via EDI most often. Nine out of 10 had no firm transition
plans in place for either the new 5010 standards or the ICD-10 coding. When
asked how often they manually code HIPAA X12 transactions, only 53 percent were
fully automated. Most are seeking third-party technologies to ease data
integration efforts, provide real-time data access and maintain the accuracy and
integrity of patient data and health information.

Benefitfocus, a leading provider of software and services for the healthcare
benefits market uses DataDirect XML Converters to automatically transform
thousands of X12 compliant EDI documents from insurance carriers to XML for
accelerated processing. Don Taylor, chief technology officer at Benefitfocus
explains:

"When integrating with our carrier partners we often receive data in ANSI X12
834 format which is non-XML. We use DataDirect XML Converters to transform 834
files into XML for use with our internal tools. Without this product, we would
have to write our own 834 to XML converter. Although it is possible for us to
write such a converter, it would be expensive and require extensive QA testing
to ensure accuracy. Buying the converters from DataDirect was an easy decision
which has proven to deliver significant ROI."

Webinar: Quick and Easy HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10 Compliance

DataDirect Technologies will host an informative Webinar Jan. 27, 2009 at 11:30
a.m. ET exploring the challenges posed by the requirement to become compliant
with the HIPAA 5010 standard. Key topics to be addressed include how to convert
between 4010 and 5010 message structures and how to move from ICD-9 to ICD-10
codes without the need for manually re-mapping. To register for the event, visit
http://www.xmlconverters.com/webinars/hipaa/

About DataDirect Technologies

DataDirect Technologies is the software industry`s only comprehensive provider
of software for connecting the world`s most critical business applications to
data and services, running on any platform, using proven and emerging standards.
Developers worldwide depend on DataDirect products to connect their applications
to an unparalleled range of data sources using standards-based interfaces such
as ODBC, JDBC and ADO.NET, XQuery and SOAP. More than 300 leading independent
software vendors and thousands of enterprises rely on DataDirect Technologies to
simplify and streamline data connectivity for distributed systems and to reduce
the complexity of mainframe integration. DataDirect Technologies is an operating
company of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS). For more information,
visit www.datadirect.com.

DataDirect and DataDirect XML Converters are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Progress Software Corporation or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the
U.S. and other countries. Java and all Java based marks are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.
Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective
owners.

US Press:
DataDirect Technologies
April Harned, 646-246-0484
april.harned@datadirect.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009