HIPA-28

Are you willing to enter into a Business Associate Agreement (BAA)?

Explanation

This question is asking whether your organization is willing to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the entity conducting the assessment. A BAA is a legal contract required by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) when a covered entity (like a healthcare provider or health plan) shares protected health information (PHI) with a third-party service provider (the 'business associate'). The BAA establishes the permitted uses and disclosures of PHI by the business associate, requires safeguards to protect the information, and helps ensure the business associate will comply with HIPAA requirements. It also outlines breach notification requirements and responsibilities. This question is being asked because if your organization will have access to, process, store, or transmit PHI on behalf of a covered entity, HIPAA regulations legally require a BAA to be in place before any PHI is shared. Without a BAA, the covered entity cannot legally share PHI with your organization, which could be a deal-breaker for healthcare clients. When answering this question, you should be clear about your willingness to enter into a BAA. If you are willing, indicate whether you have a standard BAA template or if you're open to reviewing the client's BAA. If you're not willing to sign a BAA, you should explain why and understand that this may disqualify you from handling PHI for covered entities.

Guidance

Refer to HIPAA regulations documentation for supplemental guidance in this section.

Example Responses

Example Response 1

Yes, our organization is willing to enter into a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) We have extensive experience working with healthcare organizations and understand the importance of protecting PHI in compliance with HIPAA regulations We maintain a standard BAA template that has been reviewed by our legal counsel to ensure compliance with current HIPAA requirements, but we are also willing to review and sign client-provided BAAs as needed Our staff receives annual HIPAA training, and we have implemented technical, physical, and administrative safeguards to protect PHI in accordance with the HIPAA Security Rule.

Example Response 2

Yes, we are willing to enter into a Business Associate Agreement As a cloud service provider that works with many healthcare organizations, we have an established process for executing BAAs We offer a standard AWS-style BAA that covers our services comprehensively and has been designed to meet HIPAA requirements Our BAA clearly defines responsibilities for breach notification, appropriate use and disclosure of PHI, and includes provisions for subcontractors We maintain documentation of all active BAAs and review them annually to ensure continued compliance with evolving HIPAA regulations.

Example Response 3

No, our organization is not currently willing to enter into a Business Associate Agreement Our product is a general-purpose analytics tool that is not specifically designed to handle PHI, and we have not implemented the comprehensive security controls required by HIPAA for business associates Our current infrastructure and staff training do not support the level of compliance needed to properly protect PHI according to HIPAA standards We recommend that any PHI be de-identified according to HIPAA safe harbor methods before being processed by our system, or that customers consider our enterprise solution which is currently undergoing HIPAA compliance implementation with an expected completion date of Q3 next year.

Context

Tab: Case-Specific
Category: HIPAA Compliance