What is a Business Associate Contract?
A. Business Associates are not directly covered by HIPAA, but because they have access to PHI, lawmakers decided that they needed to regulate them as well. To do this, HIPAA requires that plans enter into contracts with Business Associates through which the Associate agrees to be bound by many of the HIPAA requirements.
Related Questions
- Is a business associate contract required with organizations or persons where inadvertent contact with protected health information may result – such as in the case of janitorial services?
- Would a business associate contract in electronic form, with an electronic signature, satisfy the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s business associate contract requirements?
- Is a business associate contract required for a covered entity to disclose PHI to a researcher?
