Business associates — who are you?

It’s never too late to learn the actual definition of a business associate (BA) when it comes to HIPAA.

A BA, as defined in HIPAA, means a person who “performs functions or activities on behalf of, or certain services for, a covered entity that involve the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information,” according to HHS.

Examples of business associates include:

  • Third party administrators
  • Pharmacy benefit managers for health plans
  • Claims processing or billing companies
  • Transcription companies
  • Persons who perform legal, actuarial, accounting, management, or administrative services for covered entities and who require access to protected health information

Reproduced from [name of publication] © 2008 HCPro, Inc., 200 Hoods Lane, Marblehead, MA 01945. 781/639-1872. www.hcpro.com. Used with permission.

 


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