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What is a Business Associate Agreement?

Under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is a HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA) contract between a HIPAA-covered entity and a HIPAA business associate (BA). The contract protects personal health information (PHI) by HIPAA guidelines.

Effective Feb. 18, 2010, by the HITECH Act of 2009, a B.A.'s disclosure, handling, and use of PHI must comply with HIPAA Security and Privacy Rule mandates. Under the HITECH Act, any HIPAA business associate that serves a health care provider or institution is now subject to audits by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the Department of Health and Human Services and can be held accountable for a data breach and penalized for noncompliance.

With these new regulations in mind, a HIPAA business associate agreement should explicitly spell out how a B.A. will report and respond to a data breach, including data breaches that a business associate's subcontractors cause. In addition, HIPAA business associate agreements should require a B.A. to demonstrate how it will respond to an OCR investigation.

HIPAA Business Associate Agreement for recycling X-Ray film purposes

It is essential to have a BAA signed by the company that handles the disposal of X-ray film and other medical records; however, only a specific Business Associate Agreement can be signed for the disposal of X-ray film.

B.W. Recycling, Inc. provides the customer with an x-ray recycling quote, which includes a business associate agreement statement. Also, B.W. Recycling, Inc. does sign a business associate agreement for anyone who requests.

In such cases, when a customer wants a BAA signed, B.W. Recycling will sign a designated business associate agreement for the disposal and recycling of x-ray film and handle it to the requester.