CareFirst handled more than 35 million claims in 2002, up sharply from the 27 million in 2001. The number of member inquiries also increased, from 6.1 million in 2001 to 7.2 million in 2002. CareFirst remains on schedule to meet all compliance dates mandated by the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), federal legislation creating standards for how personal health information is shared, used and transmitted. Under HIPAA, CareFirst and other health care organizations are required to put procedures in place for keeping member information confidential. HIPAA also creates standards for the uniform transfer of electronic data, including claims, enrollment and other routine changes. Under the CareFirst initiative, “Get it Right, the First Time,” claims processing accuracy continued to improve throughout 2002. Claims processing goals for 2003 include raising the accuracy rate to 98 percent, and to complete processing of 98 percent of all initial claims within 30 days.