Eagle helps you achieve HIPAA compliance.
Are you a HIPAA business associate with an information technology product or service that needs to stay in compliance with HIPAA policies? According to HHS, a “Business Associate” is defined as a person or entity that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information on behalf of, or provides services to, a covered entity.
The security of personal health data is now more important than ever. Consider the occurrence of costly data breaches and the outcomes for those companies that have been affected.
Recent data reveals that 2014 witnessed a recent hike of:
27.5 percent over the number of breaches reported in 2013 and a significant increase of 18.3 percent over the previous high of 662 breaches tracked in 2010. The number of U.S. data breach incidents tracked since 2005 also hit a milestone of 5,029 reported data breach incidents, involving more than 675 million estimated records.’
That’s a ton of compromised records. What happens to those companies who were responsible for data breaches? Outcomes are not good. Certain organizations that rely on the trust and confidence of their healthcare clients, such as cloud computing vendors, could be out of business if a major data breach occurred. This is because many organizations sign onerous HIPAA Business Associate agreements that include stiff terms in the event of a data breach. Don’t let this happen to you.
HIPAA Policy Templates for Business Associates Will Protect Your Business
At Eagle Consulting Inc., our mission is to help keep your business in compliance. We offer multiple HIPAA policy templates that have been specifically designed for different types of companies:
- Cloud Vendor HIPAA Policies. Designed for cloud-computing vendors including those that offer cloud and/or Software-as-a-Service offerings such as electronic health records, practice management, appointment reminders, claim processing, online backup or other types of services that handle customer protected health information (PHI).
- Information Technology Company HIPAA Policies. Another set of policies are designed for information technology companies including IT consultants, Managed Services companies, networking consultants, value-added resellers (VARs), medical software developers and other companies that provide technology services to HIPAA covered entities but do not store or maintain ePHI on their internal systems.
Designed to save your company money, Eagle’s HIPAA policy templates match the unique business processes of your organization. By using these customizable templates, you can save your business thousands of dollars in staff time, and by using these best practices, avoid costly data breaches and also satisfy your business’ legal need for compliance.
Examples of business processes included are change management, data encryption, business associate contracting, software development, password management and help desk processes.
Don’t Overlook the Need
Some small cloud computing vendors think that if they outsource their hosting to a vendor with rigorous security controls that they are not obligated to maintain HIPAA policies and procedures.
Most HIPAA policies that are available for sale are designed for covered entities – hospitals, physician practices, long term care organizations or other health providers. These policies simply don’t fit technology organizations – they include irrelevant procedures and omit essential policies. Eagle’s comprehensive policies, designed specifically for cloud vendors and Information Technology Companies are designed to address the unique business processes of the company. They will bring you up to compliance with your HIPAA Business Associate agreements and will also ease your response to customer audits.
Keeping convenience in mind, you can download these HIPAA Policy Templates for Business Associates in Microsoft Word format for simple editing to meet your company’s needs. Reach out to us with any questions and to learn more about this product, or you can make your purchase online and meet your business’ HIPAA compliance needs, today.
