The 10-digit number employers must have this fall—One of 3 things you need to know this week in employee benefits

New federal HIPAA rules require 10-digit identifier for self-funded plans

The Health and Human Services Department recently updated the Code Set Rules, a set of requirements under HIPAA to create uniform electronic procedures for health plan administration. As part of this update, HHS requires employers sponsoring self-funded medical plans to apply for a health plan identifier (HPID), McGraw Wentworth’s Benefit Advisor reports.

The 10-digit HPID will track employers’ compliance with the Code Set Rules, specifically regarding enrollment transactions like transferring subscriber information to a carrier or third-party administrator in order to start, terminate or modify an employee’s health coverage.

Large group self-funded health plans (annual costs of $5 million+) must apply for an HPID by November 5.

Employers encouraged to embrace meditation as part of employee wellness

In a guest contribution to Employee Benefit News, executive coach Shani Magosky argues that “meditation is not just some quirky, hippy philosophy; it is actually grounded in physiology.” She further encourages employers to add meditation to their focus on employee wellness.

In doing so, Magosky cites Vosges Haut-Chocolat, a Chicago-based chocolatier that maintains an onsite meditation room. The room is characterized as a “refuge where employees can escape to re-energize or to simply be alone in creative thought.” The company in 2012 was named one of the 10 Best Chocolatiers in the World, and in 2008 the top innovator in chocolate.

This week’s hidden gem: Female board members boost corporate performance

After examining corporate governance rankings of large, publicly traded Canadian companies over an eight-year period, professor Judy Zaichkowsky found that improved rankings correlated to when companies added just one woman to its board of directors. The improvement was greatest in male-dominated industries like mining and energy.

Executive leadership firm CEO Jim Alampi tells NBC News that women board members are “going to ask questions men stopped asking years ago or wouldn’t think to ask.”

Further, women’s significant purchasing power can bring extra gravitas to female board members. Consultant Eric C. Peterson tells NBC that a woman on the board may “see things happening out there in the marketplace that a homogeneous board might not see.”

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