by Brandy Brimhall, CPC CMCO CPCO CCCPC CPMA QCC
Jan 13th, 2017 - Reviewed/Updated Feb 8th
Question: Is my software vendor a business associate to my practice?
Answer: Here's what the Department of Health & Human Services has to say about that: The mere selling or providing of software to a covered entity does not give rise to a business associate relationship IF the vendor does not have access to the protected health information of the covered entity (your practice). If the vendor does need access to the protected health information of the covered entity in order to provide its service, the vendor would then be a business associate to the covered entity, and thus, a business associate agreement would be warranted.
About Brandy Brimhall, CPC CMCO CPCO CCCPC CPMA QCC
Brandy is a Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Medical Compliance Officer (CMCO), ChiroCode Certified Chiropractic Professional Coder (CCCPC), a Certified Professional Compliance Officer (CPCO)and a Certified Professional Medical Auditor (CPMA). She is also the President of CHelpDesk Solutions (www.CHelpDesk.com), chiropractic's on-demand Certified Virtual Chiropractic Assistant.
Brandy is a member of the AAPC (American Academy of Professional Coders), PMI (Practice Management Institute), and the ACA (American Chiropractic Association).
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