BizTalk Server 2009 - EDI Product Team Blog

New Consolidated Blogging site for BizTalk

EdiBlog — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:04:00 GMT

Folks,

In order to give a unfied experience to our users and readers, BizTalk product team will be blogging at a consolidated site. Here is the link to the new Blog.

See you there.... :)

http://blogs.msdn.com/BizTalk_Server_Team_Blog

regds

Ravi

HIPAA 5010 Support RTM for BTS 2009

EdiBlog — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:20:00 GMT

Support for HIPAA 5010 on top of BizTalk Server 2009 is now ready for download. As part of this feature BizTalk 2009 brings in the following functionality

- Ability to handle HIPAA version 5010 and 4010A messages. Following replacement schemas have been added for 5010 as part of this support

1) 270: Health Care Eligibility/Benefit Inquiry

2) 271: Health Care Eligibility/Benefit Information Response

3) 276: Health Care Claim Status Request

4) 277: Health Care Claim Status Response

5,6) 278: Health Care Services Request for Review and 278: Health Care Services Response to Request for Review (Both included in the same schema)

7) 820: Payroll Deducted and Other Group Premium Payment for Insurance Products

8) 834: Benefit Enrollment and Maintenance

9) 835: Health Care Claim Payment/Advice

10) 837: Health Care Claim: Professional

11) 837: Health Care Claim: Institutional

12) 837: Health Care Claim: Dental

- Support ICD 10 code set along with ICD 9 code sets

- Ability to handle ST03 to determine the version of the transaction set taking precedence over GS08

- Support routing of message over ST03 (i.e., you can use ST03 in the Orchestration and Send port filters)

- Ability to support 'similar' transaction sets within a group. The transaction set to group mapping provided by X12 standards is used to determine the set of transaction sets that are similar and can be combined within a single GS-GE.

Here is the link to the hotfix that enables this support http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973415. The release notes and KB article provide details on the functionality available through this feature.

With this release BizTalk reaffirms its commitment to existing Healthcare customers and support to the healthcare market.

Regds

Ravi

How does BizTalk Server 2006R2 or BTS2009 support the HIPAA validations known as WEDI-SNIP Levels 1 through 7?

EdiBlog — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:00:00 GMT

BTS2006R2/2009 for V4010 and V5010 supports built-in validation for levels 1 & 2. Additional validation capabilities are supported through different options including: (1) an external validation web service provided by a partner such as Edifecs, (2) additional rules created using .NET, (3) use of other rules built within the customers HIPAA and business rules editing sub-systems, (4) rules entered in the BizTalk Business Rules Engine (BRE), or (5) a combination of these options.

Hope this helps

AS2 FileName preservation

EdiBlog — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:54:00 GMT

I see some confusion in folks when using the AS2 Filename Preservation enhancement done in Biztalk 2009 in terms of what context property is used for what. Here is the feature explained.

Filename Preservation is an optional profile in AS2 specification that essentially allows the recipient of the AS2 message to retrieve the filename of the MIME wrapped EDI business document and transfer the received file to its backend system using the received filename.

How we do it in biztalk?

When you are sending a message you can specify the name of the file to be filled in the MIME headers in this UI as a context property. Default value of this property is File.ReceivedFileName which is the property promoted by FILE receive port. So in the end to end scenario, name of the file received by biztalk through file receive port is transmitted across the wire in MIME headers.

On receive side we do two things with the filename in the MIME headers of the message.

1. We write context property EDIINT.PreservedFileName. Now you can use this property anywhere you wish. For eg, in a file send port you can specify this in the desired name of the file to dump the message to.

2. We write FILE.ReceivedFileName. This is just to make sure that in the following scenario the filename is preserved in the message we send in step (b) if you are using the default settings at send time:

a. You AS2Receive a message with filename in MIME headers.

b. You AS2Send this message elsewhere.

Hope this clarifies this scenario.

Increase HIPAA sub-document splitting performance

EdiBlog — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:09:00 GMT

There are two hotfixes available which increase the performance of system while processing big Hipaa files containing sub-documents.

HOTFIX-1: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953388

Description: You may experience poor performance when you try to split large EDI interchanges in BizTalk Server 2006 R2.

How it is fixed: After you apply this hotfix, the algorithm is changed to create a template string or a template stream one time per EDI interchange. This template is reused multiple times to create individual Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) documents.

HOTFIX-2: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967945
Description: The generated XML files are much larger than expected when you try to split an EDI document that contains multiple sub-documents by using a "multiple" type schema in BizTalk Server 2006 R2

How it is fixed:

The hotfix that is associated with this article enables a splitting behavior that is consistent with the splitting behavior of earlier versions of BizTalk and of BizTalk Accelerator for HIPAA.

As soon as the update is installed, the new splitting behavior is disabled by default. To enable the new splitting behavior, follow these post-setup instructions:

Un-deploy any registered multiple schemas.
Open the schema by using a text editor.
Add the following attribute to the "b:schemaInfo" node:
Split_Without_Sibling_Data="Yes"

This new attribute appears displayed under the "xs:annotation / xs:appinfo / b:schemaInfo" segment, just after the "subdocument_break="Yes" " segment.

The following is an example:


      <xs:annotation> <xs:documentation xml:lang="en">HIPAA Schema TS834A1 - Washington Publishing Company (

      http://www.wpc-edi.com)</xs:documentation> <xs:appinfo> <schemaEditorExtension:schemaInfo namespaceAlias="btsedi" extensionClass=

      "Microsoft.BizTalk.Edi.SchemaEditorExtension.EdiSchemaExtension" standardName=

      "EDI" xmlns:schemaEditorExtension="http://schemas.microsoft.com/BizTalk/2003/SchemaEditorExtensions" /> <b:schemaInfo b:subdocument_break="yes" Split_Without_Sibling_Data="Yes"

      BiztalkServerEditorTool_Version="1.5" root_reference="X12_00401_834" displayroot_reference="X12_00401_834"

      version="3.0" standard="EDI" standards_version="00401" xmlns:b=http://schemas.microsoft.com/BizTalk/2003

      X12ConditionDesignator_Check="Yes" /> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation>

HIPAA 5010 Public Beta Available

EdiBlog — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:30:00 GMT

BizTalk team has made the public Beta for 5010 feature available for download. This Beta release provides HMS mandated 5010 relacement schemas and engine support on top of BTS 2009. A more detailed post will be made as we go towards the public release.

The Beta is available through MS Connect at:

https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=218

It can be downloaded from below location:

https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?SiteID=218&DownloadID=20582

Customers and partners are encouraged to make use of the Beta bits for their solutions and provide their valuable feedback.

Help materials for BizTalk EDI/As2

EdiBlog — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:16:00 GMT

we will update this post to give available help materials on getting started with BizTalk EDI/As2.

Help material for BizTalk EDI/As2:

EDI tutorials (MSDN ): http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb259975.aspx

Good article to get started: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc748658.aspx

Book on EDI/As2: http://www.amazon.com/Pro-EDI-BizTalk-Server-2006/dp/1590599357

EDI forum for asking any question: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/biztalkediandas2/threads

Understanding general Mapping on BTS 2009 and also EDI mapping challenges: http://www.springer.com/computer/programming/book/978-1-4302-1857-9

HIPAA v5010 Support

EdiBlog — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:19:00 GMT

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and the upcoming Release BizTalk Server 2009 both have inbuilt support for HIPAA version 4010A1 and there has been a great demand for the v5010 support that is being mandated by HHS/CCS. The product team is working on releasing a HotFix on BTS2009(post RTM) which enables HIPAA 5010 support. ~~The rough timeline is towards 1H09(May/June)~~ (See Update below for timelines).

With this update, BizTalk Server 2009 would enable our partners to meet their HealthCare needs and stay upto speed with the HHS/CCS mandates and the market demand for 5010.

The Hotfix would include the new 'replacement' schemas for v5010 and EDI engine updates. The Hotfix when applied would work along with the current 4010A1 HIPAA schemas(i.e, both versions are going to be supported concurrently).

Caveat – this blog post is to be treated as a general guidance and there is a remote possibility that plans could change. Be on the lookout for the official announce on this topic on the Microsoft/BizTalk site.

Provide your feedback or questions and we will address the same. Our team is committed to addressing all key customer needs in the B2B area as per the customers business needs.

regds

Ravi

UPDATE: Good news! 5010 feature is complete in implementation. Folks who are seriously considering 5010 can join the TAP program and build solutions using the same.The timelines for release of the 5010 support is slightly extended to enable TAP validation of the 5010 support. The final release date will be announced soon as we finish the TAP program.

July 3rd Update: A number of interested customers could not join the TAP program for logistic reasons and hence a Public Beta is planned in the first half of July. An announcement from MS Connect should be coming out soon.

what is new for EDI/AS2 in BizTalk 2009

EdiBlog — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:27:00 GMT

Below is excerpts from BizTalk 2009 documentation about new features in BizTalk EDI /AS2 (BizTalk 2009):

EDI Enhancements

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is one of the most prevalent means by which businesses exchange data electronically. It represents approximately 75 percent of all business-to-business electronic transactions and grows at about 5 to 7 percent per year. EDI usage entails message syntax and standards (including ANSI X12 and UN/EDIFACT), messaging protocols, and transports.

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 introduced the ability to process EDI messages using EDI pipeline components, as well as AS2 support. BizTalk Server 2009 improves EDI support with the following features:

Dynamic EDI Envelope Generation:

· Override EDI envelope settings at runtime by setting context properties.

· Values configured in party resolution are used unless the specific value is overridden.

Multiple Batches

· Multiple batch configurations can be created for each party.

· Batch lifecycle can be managed individually.

HIPAA

· HIPAA schemas now support equivalent segments.

AS2 Enhancements

Transmitting EDI transactions over the Internet is an increasingly popular alternative to sending and receiving EDI using value-added networks (VANs). Using the Internet for data exchange reduces costs, increases efficiency, and has advantages in terms of redundancy and scalability.

To support this growing trend, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 introduced support for EDIINT AS/2 (Applicability Statement 2). AS/2 is a specification that enables transport of business data over the Internet in a safe and reliable manner. BizTalk Server uses AS/2-defined methods to send, receive, encrypt, decrypt, decompress, sign, and verify signatures between partners using HTTP over the Internet. BizTalk Server helps ensure the security of messages through the use of encryption keys, digital signatures, certificates, and non-repudiation.

BizTalk Server 2009 introduces the following AS/2 features:

· Drummond Group certified for multi-file attachment support, file name preservation support and interoperability.

· Resend messages if an MDN has not been received within a specified time frame.

· Send and receive multiple file attachments.

· Preserve attachment file names.

Interested in new EDI enhancements?

EdiBlog — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:07:00 GMT

The TAP program for the upcoming BizTalk release(BizTalk Server 2009) is open. There are some cool new EDI features currently being tried out by our TAP customers.

Summary of features:

Ø Ability to dynamically override envelope headers of the outgoing EDI documents without having to write custom pipeline components - just using context properties.

Ø Option to specify a range of EDI control numbers, with automatic rollover to the lower limit of the range. No more overflows of control numbers causing failures of your EDI solution.

Ø Ability to create multiple batches per party with different Batching Criteria – no more restriction on choosing a single batching criteria per party

Ø Increased AS2 reliability: System can be configured to resend messages if MDN is not received within a specified interval

Ø Support for Multiple attachments: Messages with attachments can be both sent and received over AS2 as per the IETF Internet-draft http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-meadors-multiple-attachments-ediint-06.txt

Ø AS2 Filename preservation: Filename associated with an incoming AS2 message is preserved for further processing. Similarly filename set in context properties is associated with outbound AS2 messages

Ø The new release would be Drummond Certified for AS2 on Multi-file attachment support, File name preservation support and Interoperability.

Do check the Microsoft Connect site for more details and getting into the TAP program (https://connect.microsoft.com/content/content.aspx?ContentID=8231&SiteID=65)

If you have feedback on what new features you would like to see in the EDI/AS2 area, do share!