Is a Trading Partner Agreement (TPA) required by HIPAA?
The TPA outlines the roles and responsibilities that bind both BCBSNC and its trading partner, to ensure secure electronic transmissions. A TPA is not required by HIPAA, but the ASC Insurance Subcommittee that was charged with developing the Implementation Guides for EDI transactions strongly recommends that trading partners have binding agreements to provide security and assurance in the transfer of electronic information (See Section 1.1.1 of any ASC X12 Implementation Guide). BCBSNC has made a business decision to make trading partner agreements a requirement for EDI transmission based on this recommendation.
