A business associate agreement template, normally abbreviated as BAA is a legal contract held between two parties- the business associate and the recipient. The purpose of this agreement is for the business associate to provide certain services to the recipient that protect their Physical Health Information. This agreement clarifies and declares all the measures that will be taken by the business associate to ensure the safety of their recipients physical health information (PHI). The business can only impart PHI in certain situations after the permission of the recipient. It is the duty of this agreement to understand the rights of the recipient and agree to keep their health information as private as they can.
Importance of Business Associate Agreement
The recipient of the business-associated agreement could be a patient, employee, or staff member. Whoever it may be, it is their right to request the confidentiality of their physical health information and other information as well. This agreement is bought into use when a patient becomes associated with a specific hospital and provides them with their legal documentation. In the case of an employee, this agreement is used when the organization asks the employee to bring in their medical information.
Content of Business Associate Agreement
Generally, a business associate agreement is made by the higher management or staff member of an organization. Here we have provided a basic outlook on what an ideal business associate agreement should contain.
1- The agreement starts off with the date as any other document does. This date initializes the start of the binding contract.
2- The document gives a detailed introduction of both parties which includes their name, contact information, and address.
3- It should describe the purpose of the agreement.
4- The terms which state the safety measures that the organization promises to take to ensure the confidentiality of their physical health information. The recipient is the one who agrees to these statements. The business agreement should provide space for negotiation of addition or subtraction of certain terms in case they don’t agree to them.
5- This business agreement should describe the extent to which they would go to in order to protect the physical health information of their recipient. At the same time, this agreement should tell the exceptional individuals to whom the information will be disclosed in certain situations if necessary. This is done so that the recipient can be aware of the third parties that might be exposed to their PHI.
6- The agreement also throws some light on the consequences that the BA will have to face if they violate any of the statements mentioned in this agreement after the recipient agrees to them. Generally, in such cases, a business agreement is required to pay some amount to the recipient as a fine and provide them with some services for free. This is basically considered an apology.
All of these terms are properly described in the agreement. The recipient is supposed to agree to each and every statement. For this reason the recipient should always go through the agreement multiple times and interpret all the terms. This avoids misunderstandings and accidental violations of rights.
Template for Business Associated Agreement
https://www.hfma.org/