RE: Billing Services with Contractors

[Jason Brege]

Daniel,   I believe that your Billing Service would most likely be a BA, but check to make sure you're not conducting standard transactions because that could make you a Covered Entity...but that's a whole other issue.   I'm disturbed that your attorney is confused on this issue.  One of the required portions of a Business Associate Agreement is that the Business Associate must receive similar "satisfactory assurances" from their subcontractors that may work with the Covered Entity's PHI.  This essentially mandates a contract closely resembling a Business Associate Agreement from the BA to their own BA (a grand-BA!).  References for this are: 45 CFR 164.504(e)(2)(ii)(D) and the model business associate agreement from the Preamble to the Final Rule.    Thanks,   Jason Brege Clinton A. Harkins, P.C. -----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 This message is intended only for the use of the individual to which it is addressed and contains information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by telephone and permanently delete the message immediately. Thank You