HIPAA Business Associate Agreement: Termination of Contract

Name:
Institution:
Date:
Business Associate Agreement
Personal medical records are private information and should not be distributed or accessed by any unauthorized person or entity without prior acknowledgement by the owner. If in any case a contract between a business associate and a covered entity is breached, the covered entity can sue the business associate for damages. As a covered entity by any business associate, it is important that you understand the extent to which the contract covers and the provisions provided therein in the contract. Therefore, before entering into a contract with the business associate, it is important to ensure that the business associate is regulated by HIPAA and conforms to their standards on healthcare information handling CITATION Dep13 \l 1033 (Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). It is, therefore, important to understand the key clauses within the contract that bestow unnecessary authority over personal information to the covered entity in the contract. Services of an insurance advisor might be indispensable while entering a contract with a business associate and ensure the information disclosed by the covered entity is protected by the business associate and or on behalf of any other business associate it represents. Here below are some of the key elements I presume must be cleared expressed and articulated in the contract.
Termination of The Contract
The terms of terminating the contract agreement should be expressly and clearly articulated in the contract. The contract maturity might be predetermined when entering the contract. However, a contract can be terminated where the business associate has violated the terms of the contract agreement. In this case, the covered entity can sue the business associate for damages over the breach of contract. Termination or expiry of the contract leaves the business associate with a lot of medical information about the covered entity. The contract should clearly cover what happens to the information harbored by the business associate in the event of premature termination or maturity of the contract. Where there is enough evidence provided by the business entity that’s the terms of the contract have been violated or breached by the business associates, then termination process would be enacted as per the provision of the contract. Upon termination of the contract, business associate should either destroy or return all the heath information about the business entity and this information should neither be reproduced nor disclosed to any other party CITATION USD13 \l 1033 (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2013). Upon termination or expiry of the contract, the business associate should request all its partners of business associates it was operating under to hand over the destroy or return the information they have regarding the covered entity. The business associates either contracted or subcontracted by the business associate are legally bound by the terms of a contract entered by the business associate and the covered entity and should, therefore, conform to the terms stipulated in the contract regarding termination of the contract. It is a...