The challenge of finding HIPAA compliant business associates has been addressed with the introduction of a new tool to simplify this task.
Healthcare organizations are only allowed to use business associates that comply with HIPAA Rules and sign a business associate agreement.
Finding HIPAA compliant business associates is time consuming, although locating vendors willing to follow HIPAA Rules is only part of the steps that must be taken. Business associate agreements must then be reviewed, often incurring legal fees, and healthcare groups must receive assurances from new business associate that appropriate safeguards have been put in place to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of any PHI they supply.
It is also difficult for vendors that aim to take advantage of the potential for business in the healthcare industry. They must be able to demonstrate they have adapted appropriate safeguards and need to supply reassurances that their products and services support HIPAA-compliance.
A solution has now been formulated that resolves the problems for both parties and streamlines the process of locating HIPAA compliant business associates. Would-be business associates can also use the solution to showe that they have the required safeguards in place to ensure their products and services can be used without breaching HIPAA Rules.
The HIPAA Alliance Marketplace is a closed ecosystem set up by the Compliancy Group, which behaves as a repository for HIPAA-compliant vendors that can be used to put medical professionals in touch with trusted vendors.
HIPAA-covered entities can register and search the Marketplace for a wide range of service providers, including IT and Managed Service Providers (MSPs), medical billing and collections firms, software and application developers, cloud computing platforms, insurers, printing and mailing vendors, practice management firms, and EHR suppliers.
In order for a vendor to be listed in the HIPAA Alliance Marketplace, they are first strictly vetted in a process in which their services and solutions are reviewed against HIPAA Rules. If they pass the audit, the vendor is given a HIPAA Seal of Compliance – a reassurance that the vendor has been thoroughly critiqued and is a trusted provider.
Marc Haskelson, President and CEO of Compliancy Group on the launch of their new HIPAA Alliance Marketplace stated,“The HIPAA Alliance Marketplace is the only tool of its kind for the health care market today. In this climate of data breaches, ransomware, and cyber-security threats, health care providers can rely on the HIPAA Alliance Marketplace to find HIPAA compliant vendors with the security and privacy infrastructure in place to keep their data safe. Vendors can confidently execute Business Associate Agreements with their clients, and providers can be confident in their choice of vendors vetted and verified by the HIPAA Seal of Compliance.”
