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.
