2019 - HIPAA and Business Associates - New Guidance on Responsibilities and Obligations

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.