Business Associate Agreements Between Covered Entities
During our mock HIPAA audit process, we always verify Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) for our clients who are either Covered Entities (CEs) or Business Associates (BAs). In the process of deciding which BAAs are required, we are often asked about what agreement needs to be in place between two CEs who are working together. For instance, […]
How to Prepare For HIPAA Breaches
There are many steps you can take to prepare your organization for a HIPAA breach. If you are proactive, you can mitigate the severity of a breach considerably. And if you have the right policies in place, you can save your practice from large fines and other financial costs. Lets go over the things your […]
Rules For Sending And Receiving Protected Health Information (PHI)
HIPAA requires that covered entities (organizations who provide treatment to patients, bill insurance plans, or create protected health information (PHI)) must protect their PHI. This protection extends to sending and receiving PHI. Moreover, there are specific rules for how to send PHI to outside entities like other practices, insurance companies, and patients themselves. First, lets […]
The Importance of Encryption for HIPAA Compliance
Encryption. . .what does it mean to encrypt something? Why is it important? And why is it particularly important for covered entities and business associates in the health services industry? What can you do to make sure your data is encrypted while it is being transferred from one place to another and while it is […]
HIPAA Compliance for Dental Practices and Their Business Associates
For almost 20 years since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) came into existence, the health care industry has had to deal with increasingly complex layers of regulations. Dental practices are acutely affected by HIPAA, namely by the recently added rule that holds a dental practice responsible for the security procedures of any company or individual it does business with. […]