Kinney & Associates, Inc.

Local education agencies are covered by FERPA. Since FERPA has a higher privacy standard than HIPAA schools are not required to have a business associate agreement for privacy purposes. However, recently a number of schools have requested that one be put in place in case any HIPAA provisions are later deemed to require it. The language below is offered to facilitate this need.

Simply copy and past this text into any word processing software.

 

HIPAA Business Associates agreement

Between ______________ And  Kinney Management Services, LLC.

Definitions:

Catch-all definition:

Terms used, but not otherwise defined, in this Agreement shall have the same meaning as those terms in the Privacy Rule.

Examples of specific definitions:

a.      Business Associate. "Business Associate" shall mean Kinney Management Services, LLC. referred to as KINNEY throughout.

b.      Covered Entity. "Covered Entity" shall mean ______________.

c.      Individual. "Individual" shall have the same meaning as the term "individual" in 45 CFR § 164.501 and shall include a person who qualifies as a personal representative in accordance with 45 CFR § 164.502(g).

d.      Privacy Rule. "Privacy Rule" shall mean the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information at 45 CFR Part 160 and Part 164, Subparts A and E.

e.      Protected Health Information. "Protected Health Information" shall have the same meaning as the term "protected health information" in 45 CFR § 164.501, limited to the information created or received by KINNEY from or on behalf of Covered Entity.

f.        Required By Law. "Required By Law" shall have the same meaning as the term "required by law" in 45 CFR § 164.501.

g.      Secretary. "Secretary" shall mean the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services or his designee.

Obligations and Activities of KINNEY

  1. KINNEY agrees to not use or disclose Protected Health Information other than as permitted or required by the Agreement or as Required By Law.
  2. KINNEY agrees to use appropriate safeguards to prevent use or disclosure of the Protected Health Information other than as provided for by this Agreement. This includes meeting the HIPAA Security Standards.
  3. KINNEY agrees to mitigate, to the extent practicable, any harmful effect that is known to KINNEY of a use or disclosure of Protected Health Information by KINNEY in violation of the requirements of this Agreement. KINNEY  agrees to report to Covered Entity any use or disclosure of the Protected Health Information not provided for by this Agreement of which it becomes aware.
  4. KINNEY agrees to ensure that any agent, including a subcontractor, to whom it provides Protected Health Information received from, or created or received by KINNEY on behalf of Covered Entity agrees to the same restrictions and conditions that apply through this Agreement to KINNEY with respect to such information.
  5. KINNEY agrees to provide access, at the request of Covered Entity, within 30 days either as a copy of the paper record or of an electronic text file, to Protected Health Information to the Covered Entity or, as directed by Covered Entity, to an Individual in order to meet the requirements under 45 CFR § 164.524. Such request must be made in writing by the covered entities identified contact in its contract with KINNEY.
  6. KINNEY agrees to make any amendment(s) to Protected Health Information in a Designated Record Set that the Covered Entity directs or agrees to pursuant to 45 CFR § 164.526 at the request of Covered Entity. Such request will be made in a manner prescribed by KINNEY.
  7.  KINNEY agrees to make internal practices, books, and records, including policies and procedures and Protected Health Information, relating to the use and disclosure of Protected Health Information received from, or created or received by KINNEY on behalf of, Covered Entity available to the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, for purposes of the Secretary determining Covered Entity's compliance with the Privacy Rule.
  8. KINNEY agrees to document such disclosures of Protected Health Information and information related to such disclosures as would be required for Covered Entity to respond to a request by an Individual for an accounting of disclosures of Protected Health Information in accordance with 45 CFR § 164.528.
  9. KINNEY agrees to provide to Covered Entity or an Individual information collected in accordance with its contract with KINNEY to permit Covered Entity to respond to a request by an Individual for an accounting of disclosures of Protected Health Information in accordance with 45 CFR § 164.528.

 

Permitted Uses and Disclosures by KINNEY

General Use and Disclosure Provisions

Except as otherwise limited in this Agreement, KINNEY may use or disclose Protected Health Information on behalf of, or to provide services to, Covered Entity for the management of Medicaid billing, if such use or disclosure of Protected Health Information would not violate the Privacy Rule if done by Covered Entity or the minimum necessary policies and procedures of the Covered Entity.

Obligations of Covered Entity

Provisions for Covered Entity to Inform KINNEY of Privacy Practices and Restrictions

  1. Covered Entity shall notify KINNEY of any limitation(s) in its notice of privacy practices of Covered Entity in accordance with 45 CFR § 164.520, to the extent that such limitation may affect Business Associate's use or disclosure of Protected Health Information.
  2. Covered Entity shall notify KINNEY of any changes in, or revocation of, permission by Individual to use or disclose Protected Health Information, to the extent that such changes may affect Business Associate's use or disclosure of Protected Health Information.
  3. Covered Entity shall notify KINNEY of any restriction to the use or disclosure of Protected Health Information that Covered Entity has agreed to in accordance with 45 CFR § 164.522, to the extent that such restriction may affect Business Associate's use or disclosure of Protected Health Information.

 

Permissible Requests by Covered Entity

 

Covered Entity shall not request KINNEY to use or disclose Protected Health Information in any manner that would not be permissible under the Privacy Rule if done by Covered Entity.

 

Term and Termination

  1. Term. The Term of this Agreement shall be effective as of [Insert Effective Date], and shall terminate when all of the Protected Health Information provided by Covered Entity to Business Associate, or created or received by KINNEY on behalf of Covered Entity, is destroyed or returned to Covered Entity, or, if it is infeasible to return or destroy Protected Health Information, protections are extended to such information, in accordance with the termination provisions in this Section. [Term may differ.]
  2. Termination for Cause. Upon Covered Entity's knowledge of a material breach by Business Associate, Covered Entity shall either:
    1. Provide an opportunity for KINNEY to cure the breach or end the violation and terminate this Agreement;
    2. Immediately terminate this Agreement if KINNEY has breached a material term of this Agreement and cure is not possible; or

If neither termination nor cure are feasible, Covered Entity shall report the violation to the Secretary.

  1. Effect of Termination.
    1. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this section, upon termination of this Agreement, for any reason, KINNEY shall return or destroy all Protected Health Information received from Covered Entity, or created or received by KINNEY on behalf of Covered Entity. This provision shall apply to Protected Health Information that is in the possession of subcontractors or agents of Business Associate. KINNEY shall retain no copies of the Protected Health Information.
    2. In the event that KINNEY determines that returning or destroying the Protected Health Information is infeasible, KINNEY shall provide to Covered Entity notification of the conditions that make return or destruction infeasible. Upon [Insert negotiated terms] that return or destruction of Protected Health Information is infeasible, KINNEY shall extend the protections of this Agreement to such Protected Health Information and limit further uses and disclosures of such Protected Health Information to those purposes that make the return or destruction infeasible, for so long as KINNEY maintains such Protected Health Information.

Miscellaneous

  1. Regulatory References. A reference in this Agreement to a section in the Privacy Rule means the section as in effect or as amended.
  2. Amendment. The Parties agree to take such action as is necessary to amend this Agreement from time to time as is necessary for Covered Entity to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Rule and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-191.
  3. Survival. The respective rights and obligations of KINNEY under Section c of this Agreement shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

Interpretation. Any ambiguity in this Agreement shall be resolved to permit Covered Entity to comply with the Privacy Rule.