

business associates – a person or group providing certain functions or services for a covered entity which require access to identifiable health information, such as a CPA firm, an attorney, or an independent medical transcriptionist.covered entities – health care providers, health plans, and health clearinghouses.Under HIPAA the 2 groups that must follow HIPAA rules are Not all operations that handle health-related information must follow HIPAA law (such as many schools, state agencies, law enforcement agencies, or municipal offices). It also requires periodic audits to ensure that covered entities and business associates are complying with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and Breach Notification. The HITECH Act essentially added teeth to the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules by specifying levels of violations and penalties for violations.(from the paper “Reassessing Your Security Practices in a Health IT Environment: A Guide for Small Health Care Practices”) The figure below gives you an idea of the security measures covered by the Security Rule. The US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) now also offers a Security Risk Assessment (SRA) tool to help organizations ensure they are compliant with HIPAA’s administrative, technical, and physical safeguards and to expose areas where their PHI may be at risk policies, procedures, and documentation requirements.administrative, technical, and physical safeguards.In contrast, the Privacy Rule applies to all forms of PHI.In particular, it calls for attention to: The Security Rule applies only to protected health information in electronic form (E-PHI) and builds on the Privacy Rule requirements of “administrative, physical, and technical safeguards.”Unlike the Privacy Rule which is more concerned about patients’ rights and how health information is used and released, the Security Rule sets standards on the processes and technical security measures that should be taken to keep PHI private.It discusses acceptable ways to “implement basic safeguards to protect E-PHI from unauthorized access, alteration, deletion, and transmission.” (5 of the final Security Rule)* Under the Security Rule, paper to-paper faxes, person-to-person telephone calls, video teleconferencing, or messages left on voice-mail do not count as E-PHI because they did not exist in electronic form before the transmission.Thus those activities are not covered by ” (2 of the final Security Rule).While it requires covered entities to put in place “administrative, physical, and technical safeguards” for protecting PHI, it differs from the Security Rule in that it discusses the cases in which PHI can be used, when authorization is required and what are patients’ rights with respect to their health information.


At the same time, it allows health care providers and certain related operations enough access to the information they need to do their jobs effectively. HIPAA is a federal law that protects the privacy of your personal health information. What You Need To Know About HIPAA HIPAA and Health IT Does data have to be encrypted to be HIPAA compliant?.Does VSee Offer A HIPAA Business Associate Contract?.
