Healthcare 2020 - Risks, Liabilities, and Enforcement in HIPAA Business Associate Relationships

Overview:
HIPAA Business Associates, those entities that provide services to HIPAA Covered Entities and other HIPAA Business Associates, have an increasing role to play in healthcare today.
From hosted EHR systems to Telemedicine platforms, from remote backup to e-mail hosting, a wide variety of entities create, receive, maintain, or transmit Protected Health Information on behalf of a HIPAA entity. These relationships must be adequately documented, and the practices of the Business Associate must be vetted to ensure privacy and security of PHI.
HIPAA Business Associates include any business that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits any Protected Health Information on behalf of a HIPAA Covered Entity or Business Associate. Even sub-contractors of Business Associates are also treated as business associates, and they may not even be aware they have become HIPAA Business Associates. In addition, new guidance has outlined the compliance liabilities for HIPAA Business Associates, while massive security breaches by HIPAA Business Associates grab headlines every day.