Q&A: Covered entities and BA contracts
Compliance Monitor, February 3, 2010
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!
Q: Are covered entities and business associates (BAs) required to revise their BA contracts to comply with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act?
A: Covered entities and BAs are required to amend existing BA contracts or negotiate new contracts. Contracts executed prior to the HITECH Act do not comply with the interim breach notification rule or the new BA-related statutory requirements. The breach notification requirements for BAs became effective September 23, 2009, and many of the other BA-related requirements become effective February 17. Covered entities and BAs should amend contracts based on requirements in the statute and the interim final breach notification rule. They should not wait for the Office for civil rights (OCR) to publish rules related to BA contract requirements. In the absence of rule, statute governs. Therefore, BAs are already required to notify covered entities within a set period of time if they experience a breach. It is wise to update or amend contracts as soon as feasible to meet the February 17 statutory deadline and the interim breach notification rule requirements.
Chris Apgar, CISS, answered this question in the February 2010 issue of the HCPro newsletter Briefings on HIPAA. For more information about this newsletter visit the HCMarketplace.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!
Related Products
-
Guide to HIPAA Auditing, Second Edition
This new edition of a best-selling book delivers the hands-on tools and guidance you need to conduct effective in-house...
-
The No-Hassle Guide to HIPAA Policies: A Privacy and Security Toolkit
HIPAA regulations require extensive documentation—likely more than you've done in the past. Changing the way you look...
-
The HIPAA and HITECH Toolkit
The HIPAA and HITECH Toolkit is a valuable resource that helps both CEs and BAs understand and meet the HITECH Act's...
-
HIPAA Training Handbook for Business Associates
Train all of your staff members with this handbook and others in the 2009 HIPAA Handbook Series. Ensure they understand...
-
HIPAA Handbook for Executive, Administrative and Corporate Staff
Train all of your staff members with this handbook and others in the 2009 HIPAA Handbook Series. Ensure they understand...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Identify potential Medicaid RAC target areas
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Q&A: Acute respiratory failure diagnosis does not require intubation
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- Oxygen Cylinder Storage Requirements
- Q&A: Follow CMS' coding guidelines when using modifier -25
- Understand the spine to code back procedures correctly
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Searched