If the billing company is a clearinghouse then they are both a CE and a BA of their clients.
HHS has clarified that CE and BA status do not have to be mutually exclusive. You can be both a CE and a BA. Note however that BA relationships can be one way or they can be reciprocal. Yes a clearinghouse is a CE and as a CE they are obligated to have BA agreements in place with all of their BA's. But the providers who use the clearinghouse are not BA's of the clearinghouse. This would be a one way relationship where the clearinghouse is a BA of the provider but not visa versa. The key here is who is performing functions on behlaf of whom? The clearinghouse is providing billing services on behalf of the provider. The provider is not doing anything on behalf of the clearinghouse. Noel Chang -- Open WebMail Project (http://openwebmail.org) ---------- Original Message ----------- From: "Brenda K. Burton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 22:05:21 +0000 Subject: Re: Business Associates Agreements > "If the billing company does all its transactions as Standard > Transactions", then it would be considered a clearinghouse and > therefore a CE rather than a BA; is this not correct? > > And the CE is actually the one that is technically responsible in > implementing the BA agreement, aren't they? > > Just my thoughts! ~Brenda > > The Billing Companies won't need to ensure any BAAs are in place > unless someone out there acts on behalf of the Billing Company > rather than on behalf of the Covered Entity (Provider) [CUSTOMER!] > > > > Their Customers will need BAAs in place with the following: > > * The Billing Company > > * A Collection Agency, if used > > * Any Transactions Clearinghouse (note: if the Billing Company does all its transactions as Standard Transactions, a BAA is not required with a clearinghouse acting only as a switcher -- just an ordinary contract to do business) > > > > Neither the Billing Company nor their Customers need BAAs with any Health Plans unless they doing a non-health-plan function. > > > > > > The opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily the opinion of LCMH. > > > > Douglas M. Webb > > Computer System Engineer > > Little Company of Mary Hospital & Health Care Centers > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > "This electronic message may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the individual (s) and entity(s) named as recipients in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of the message, please notify the sender immediately, delete the material from any computer, do not deliver, distribute, or copy this message, and do not disclose its contents or take action in reliance on the information it contains. Thank you." > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 02:11 PM > > Subject: Business Associates Agreements > > > > > > > Hi, I'm helping some small Billing companies in my area > > > become HIPAA compliant and I'm not sure if they need a > > > Business Associates Agreement with the Insurance > > > carriers that they submit claims to. Any information > > > would be greatly appreciated. > > > > > > Thank you, > > > > > > M.Noren > > > > > > --- > > > The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. > > > > > > You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to leave-wedi-privacy- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org > > > > --- > > The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. > > > > You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to leave-wedi-privacy- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org > > --- > The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. > The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of > the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the > views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to > receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP > Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs > should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion > of specific vendor products and services. They also are not > intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or > unprofessional communication at any time. > > You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the > Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a > blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you > need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same > as the address subscribed to the list, please use the > Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org ------- End of Original Message ------- --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
