This letter linked to this e-mail is interesting, I am sure many providers are struggling with this same issue. But I think the relevant question is do medical vendors really provide treatment (by HIPAA definition), therefore exempting this use/disclosure from a BA agreement? I have the definition of treatment as meaning "the provision, coordination, or management of healthcare and related services by one or more covered entities..." If you are not a covered entity, can you provide treatment (by definition)?
It also states that medical vendors are working on their behalf and not the providers. I do not feel that the relationship with providers is always that clear. You sell provider a complicated device that needs insertion in the OR and train our nursing and medical staff to use it, on who's behalf is the medical vendor working in this scenario? I believe that there are no clear cut answers for some of these questions. I met with a statewide group the other day, and in some instances, these groups who have been working on these issues for around two years could not always agree who is a BA and how to handle these third parties under HIPAA. Anne Halfhill -----Original Message----- From: Kouzoukas, Demetrios [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 7:25 PM To: WEDI SNIP Privacy Workgroup List Subject: RE: medical vendors as Business Associates See http://www.advamed.org/publicdocs/ltr.%20richard%20campanelli.pdf -- Demetrios Demetrios L. Kouzoukas Gardner, Carton & Douglas LLC 1301 K Street NW Suite 900, East Tower Washington, DC 20005-3317 Ph: (202) 230-5119 Fax: (202) 230-5319 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://www.gcd.com/firm/bio.asp?empid=K224331082 Assistant: Dee English; (202) 230-5611; [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- 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
