What safeguards do we need when disclosing PHI to offshore computer developers for systems and application design purposes?
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, February 26, 2007
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!
The privacy rule requires that you have a business associate agreement (BAA) with outside companies to which you disclose PHI for business purposes. Because the regulations do not distinguish between domestic and offshore companies, you should execute a BAA with any outside vendor to which you will disclose PHI.
However, I would question the need to disclose actual patient information for systems and application design purposes. Do you really need to use actual patient data, or could you make up dummy data that would do the trick?
Editor's note: Mary Brandt, president of Bellaire, TX-based Brandt & Associates, LLC, answered this question. This is not legal advice. Consult your attorney for legal matters.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIPAA Weekly Advisor!
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- 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
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- 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
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q/A. One injection code or two?
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- ED-to-inpatient transfers are flawed with safety gaps
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Searched