7 steps to harmonize business associate, services agreements

Why This Topic Matters

Conflicting language between related agreements can create compliance, workflow, and dispute issues for covered entities and their business associates. Understanding how to organize and review these documents helps practices manage contractual risk and maintain more consistent HIPAA-related documentation.

Article Sections

1. Organize your BAAs

   Discusses keeping agreements accessible and tracked within a central workflow so they are not overlooked.

2. Don’t blend the two agreements

   Explains the general concern with combining related agreements into a single document and how that can complicate later disputes.

3. Use a BAA template

   Covers the use of templates and the need to compare versions from different sources for consistency with related contracts.

4. Limit the provisions in the BAA to what’s required by HIPAA

   Addresses keeping contract language aligned with the framework applicable to these agreements and avoiding unnecessary overlap.

5. Know your business associate contact person

   Notes the importance of identifying the right point of contact for coordinating contract corrections and follow-up.

6. Review existing services agreements against the corresponding BAAs for conflicts of any terms

   Describes the need to compare related agreements, resolve inconsistencies, and update documents before disputes arise.

7. Remember to check the associated BAA when an underlying service agreement is being revised

   Highlights the need to revisit related HIPAA contracting documents whenever one agreement changes.