Why Should You Attend:
Because the regulations have expanded the obligations of HIPAA Business Associates, it is now more important than ever to carefully consider whether a BA designation is appropriate or not – Business Associate Agreements are not to be entered into lightly. The requirements have a direct impact on what needs to be put into the business associate agreements you establish.
In addition, Business Associates may need to provide for their covered entity clients rights of individuals to receive electronic copies of information held electronically, ask for certain restrictions on disclosures, and other capabilities that covered entities must have in place, depending on what is called for in the agreement.
Any Business Associate, and any entity hiring a Business Associate, must be aware of the compliance obligations of the HIPAA Business Associate and what must be expected in the relationship to ensure the establishment of the appropriate relationship and procedures to satisfy regulators.
All kinds of covered entities, and now, business associates of covered entities as well, need to review their HIPAA compliance, policies, and procedures to see of they are prepared to meet the challenges of compliance today. In addition, Business Associates have emerged as a leading source of health information breaches, and we will discuss what covered entities should do to ensure good practices by their Business Associates in order to avoid the considerable expense of breaches.
Agenda
Areas Covered in the Webinar:- The regulations will be reviewed and their effects on usual practices for Business Associates and their relationships with covered entities will be discussed.
- We will describe the kinds of entities that qualify as Business Associates and why it is important to carefully consider the designation before using it.
- We will examine other types of HIPAA entities, such as Hybrid entities, Affiliated Covered Entities, and Organized Health Care Arrangements, how they relate to Business Associates, and when Business Associate Agreements may be required among the various entities.
- We will review the new HHS guide to guide to the direct enforcement liabilities of Business Associates under the HIPAA regulations.
- We will explain what a Business Associate needs to do under the regulations, provide a policy framework for information security, and show what policies need to be in place.
- We will describe the required and recommended elements of a Business Associate Agreement, including identifying the template language provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services and its role in the process.
- We will explore the questions that should be posed to HIPAA Business Associates to ensure they have considered good privacy and security compliance practices in their businesses.
- The new enforcement penalty structure and the latest plans for audits by HHS OCR will be described and a plan for being prepared for audits and enforcement actions will be discussed.
Speakers
Jim Sheldon-Dean is the founder and director of compliance services at Lewis Creek Systems, LLC, a Vermont-based consulting firm founded in 1982, providing information privacy and security regulatory compliance services to a wide variety of health care entities. He is a frequent speaker regarding HIPAA, including speaking engagements at numerous regional and national healthcare association conferences and conventions and the annual NIST/OCR HIPAA Security Conference.Sheldon-Dean has more than 16 years of experience specializing in HIPAA compliance, more than 34 years of experience in policy analysis and implementation, business process analysis, information systems and software development, and eight years of experience doing hands-on medical work as a Vermont certified volunteer emergency medical technician.
Sheldon-Dean received his B.S. degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Vermont and his master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Who Should Attend
This webinar will provide valuable assistance to all personnel in medical offices, practice groups, hospitals, academic medical centers, insurers, business associates (shredding, data storage, systems vendors, billing services, etc.). The titles are:
- Compliance Director
- CEO
- CFO
- Privacy Officer
- Security Officer
- Information Systems Manager
- HIPAA Officer
- Chief Information Officer
- Health Information Manager
- Healthcare Counsel/Lawyer
- Office Manager
- Contracts Manager
