HIPAA has given clear guidelines for the HIPAA regulations that need to be followed by a business associate. It is important that the business associate follows these guidelines in order to avoid any kind of breach which can result in penalties. Let us first check which the business associates are as per HIPAA.
Who is considered as a business associate?
All those third party administrators or people or companies that will be accessing the protected health information which the covered entity has will be business associates. Examples for the same will be any outsourcing company which is looking into the claim processing of the health insurance company or any accounting company that is looking into the accounting service of the health care provider and hence will have access to some part of the patient information. Hospital consultants, managers of pharmacies, medical transcriptionist who are providing services to healthcare providers etc are considered as business associates. It should be noted that mobile application developers should also be considered as associates.
Why must these business associates be well versed with HIPAA policies?
We must remember that the main purpose of HIPAA is to make sure that the health information about the patients is protected. Precautions have to be taken to make sure that there are no violations. Now these business associates are accessing the patient data directly. So they should know the importance of HIPAA Compliance Certification. They should know that all this information is highly confidential. They must understand that they must not even accidentally give away this data to anyone.
The importance of having a HIPAA business associate contract:
Whenever a covered entity is interacting with a business associate it is important that they have a written contract which has all the guidelines that the business associate needs to follow. This contract must specify how the protected health information should be used. The contract must also make it clear that the business associate must not disclose this data to anyone under any circumstances. It should also specify that the business associate must take the appropriate measures to ensure that the data never gets leaked. If any breach occurs then the business associate needs to be aware that his contract can get terminated and the covered entity can even complain about the breach to the concerned authorities.
The need for training the business associate:
The covered entity needs to understand that simply signing a contract is not enough. It is important that the entity understands the importance of Business Associate HIPAA training. It is important that the business associate is trained appropriately and the concepts of HIPAA are made clear to the business associate. Once the business associate is trained about the different rules and regulations of HIPAA, then it will be easier for him to follow the various guidelines provided by HIPAA. This will also reduce the chances of breaches and violations from occurring due to the negligence of the business associate.
The need for regular training sessions:
The covered entity needs to understand that they need to train the business associate at periodic intervals. They must make the business associate aware about any changes that occur in the HIPAA policies. They can opt for business associates who already have HIPAA Certification as they will have a better understanding about the HIPAA policies. The covered entities can opt for online HIPAA training of the business associate as this is a more better and an affordable option as compared to the option of hiring an expert for training.
When the covered entity is going to opt for a business associate then it is the joint responsibility of the covered entity and the business associate to ensure that HIPAA policies are followed.
Who is considered as a business associate?
All those third party administrators or people or companies that will be accessing the protected health information which the covered entity has will be business associates. Examples for the same will be any outsourcing company which is looking into the claim processing of the health insurance company or any accounting company that is looking into the accounting service of the health care provider and hence will have access to some part of the patient information. Hospital consultants, managers of pharmacies, medical transcriptionist who are providing services to healthcare providers etc are considered as business associates. It should be noted that mobile application developers should also be considered as associates.
Why must these business associates be well versed with HIPAA policies?
We must remember that the main purpose of HIPAA is to make sure that the health information about the patients is protected. Precautions have to be taken to make sure that there are no violations. Now these business associates are accessing the patient data directly. So they should know the importance of HIPAA Compliance Certification. They should know that all this information is highly confidential. They must understand that they must not even accidentally give away this data to anyone.
The importance of having a HIPAA business associate contract:
Whenever a covered entity is interacting with a business associate it is important that they have a written contract which has all the guidelines that the business associate needs to follow. This contract must specify how the protected health information should be used. The contract must also make it clear that the business associate must not disclose this data to anyone under any circumstances. It should also specify that the business associate must take the appropriate measures to ensure that the data never gets leaked. If any breach occurs then the business associate needs to be aware that his contract can get terminated and the covered entity can even complain about the breach to the concerned authorities.
The need for training the business associate:
The covered entity needs to understand that simply signing a contract is not enough. It is important that the entity understands the importance of Business Associate HIPAA training. It is important that the business associate is trained appropriately and the concepts of HIPAA are made clear to the business associate. Once the business associate is trained about the different rules and regulations of HIPAA, then it will be easier for him to follow the various guidelines provided by HIPAA. This will also reduce the chances of breaches and violations from occurring due to the negligence of the business associate.
The need for regular training sessions:
The covered entity needs to understand that they need to train the business associate at periodic intervals. They must make the business associate aware about any changes that occur in the HIPAA policies. They can opt for business associates who already have HIPAA Certification as they will have a better understanding about the HIPAA policies. The covered entities can opt for online HIPAA training of the business associate as this is a more better and an affordable option as compared to the option of hiring an expert for training.
When the covered entity is going to opt for a business associate then it is the joint responsibility of the covered entity and the business associate to ensure that HIPAA policies are followed.