RE: Billing Services with Contractors

[Leslie C Bender]

Daniel:   Not all billing services are “business associates” only.  If your billing service performs any “translations” of standard to nonstandard data elements in connection with any of the standard transactions (e.g., if you receive any print images of non standard itemized bills your provider clients have sent and key them into an 837 for re-billing or for billing to an insurer you now have discovered) your billing service may meet the HIPAA definition of a “clearinghouse” and thus you would be both a business associate and a covered entity.   If you have any vendors with whom you use/exchange PHI on behalf of your provider clients, they would likely be second tier business associates and yes you would need to have them execute BA agreements with you at least as stringent as those you sign with your provider clients.  For example, if you forward accounts from patients residing in other states to billing companies in those states, you would need a BA agreement with the billing services to whom you forward the accounts.   ACA International, a non profit trade association for, among others, billing and health care collection agencies has extensive educational materials and an upcoming program applying HIPAA to billing services and health care collection agencies.  They have some upcoming educational programs that may interest you and your counsel.   Hope this helps.    Leslie C. Bender ROI WebEd Company   -----Original Message----- From: Daniel E. McDonald [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 12:59 PM To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List Subject: Billing Services with Contractors   I wanted to get input regarding Billing Services that use contractors to perform certain services.  My understanding is the Billing Service is considered a Business Associate and not a covered entity.  If that is true, would the contractors working for a billing service be Business Associates of a Business Associate and would they sign a similair BA agreement as the billing service did but between them and the billing service?? I look forward to everyone’s intepretation as even our attorney is a bit confused.     This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify me immediately at 1-800-500-0175 ext 114 and permanently delete the original and any copy of any e-mail and printout thereof.     --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org