Is a physician or other provider considered to be a business associate of a health plan or other payer?
Generally, providers are not business associates of payers. For example, [...]
Are business associates required to restrict their uses and disclosures to the minimum necessary? May a covered entity reasonably rely on a request from a covered entity’s business associate as the minimum necessary?
A covered entity’s contract with a business associate may not [...]
If the only protected health information a business associate receives is a limited data set, does the HIPAA Privacy Rule require the covered entity to enter into both a business associate agreement and data use agreement with the business associate?
No. Where a covered entity discloses only a limited data [...]
Are the following entities considered “business associates” under the HIPAA Privacy Rule: US Postal Service, United Parcel Service, delivery truck line employees and/or their management?
No, the Privacy Rule does not require a covered entity [...]
When is a health care provider a business associate of another health care provider?
The HIPAA Privacy Rule explicitly excludes from the business associate [...]
Are accreditation organizations business associates of the covered entities they accredit?
Yes. The HIPAA Privacy Rule explicitly defines organizations that accredit [...]
Do physicians with hospital privileges have to enter into business associate contracts with the hospital?
No. The hospital and such physicians participate in what the [...]
Would business associate contracts in electronic form, with an electronic signature, satisfy the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s business associate contract requirements?
Yes, assuming that the electronic contract satisfies the applicable requirements [...]
Is a physician required to have business associate contracts with technicians such as plumbers, electricians or photocopy machine repairmen who provide repair services in a physician’s office?
No, plumbers, electricians and photocopy repair technicians do not require [...]
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?
A business associate contract is not required with persons or [...]