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Contracts & Business Associate agreements
mbloom:
Since business associate is defined by HIPAA- os there just a downloadable agreement I can use?
I noticed you said do not download a billing contract and seek an attorney. I am a little nervous about the expense of having an attorney to write on for me? This is my first client. Any suggestions? I tried to write one myself - but it is only 2 pages. I also noticed you said a good one is 7-15 pages minimum...EEEK!
RichardP:
This Q & A Forum is affiliated with a site that sells information to help new billers get started and established billers refine their practice. Note the link at the top center to right of this page.
Here is what they are selling for how to write a Contract.
http://www.medicalbillinglive.com/medical-billing-service-contract.shtml
This Forum does not push their products into your face, but they will let you know from time to time that the products are available - in case you want to make use of them.
Any contract you have needs to cover the contingencies of your unique situation. If you are just starting out and/or have few clients, you will maybe think that you don't need an in-depth contract. The point is, you don't need a contract at all - until you need it. Since you don't know when that will be, it is best to have one from the beginning. And it is best to have a contract that does a good job of covering all contingencies you are likely to face. Boilerplate contracts from the Internet will not give you that kind of contract, but they are a good place to start in figuring out what situations you might face that you hadn't thought of. Either buy the book I linked to above, or look at a variety of contracts from the Internet. In either situation, it is best to adopt and adapt what you read to your unique situation, and then have a health care attorney look it over to see that it appropriately covers the issues that are unique to your state. Doing it this way will be much less expensive than simply going to an attorney and asking them to create a contract for you from scratch.
This advice goes for the Business Associate Agreement as well as the Billing Contract.
mbloom:
Thanks RichardP!!!!
PMRNC:
I too would reccomend the book but I would also add NOT TO DOWNLOAD OR LOOK AT SAMPLE CONTRACTS. I would also recommend an attorney review your contract. Right off the bat I can tell you that in my experience if your contract is LESS than 5 pages, it's not enough at all. MANY MANY of us have learned the hard way how important it is to do this part of your business by yourself with good resources to guide you but for goodness sakes please stay away from the sample contracts.
Your BAA can indeed be completed as a template, however HAVING your BAA is a formality, you cannot be HIPAA compliant if you don't know HIPAA inside and out. You must BE fully compliant to give your clients a BAA so if your just going to download it, throw your name on it and sign it, it will NOT be enough to protect you and could potentially ruin you before you start. Many think they can just download their BAA and even compliance manuals and add their names and they are set, so not true which is why I say to stay away from other people's work, that's their work and the best way to learn is to actually work on it yourself, indeed have an attorney review it. There are some decent pre-paid legal firms out there now that I wouldn't have recommended a few years back but now they are being used more frequently and there are some good ones. Spend the added money and protect your business :)
RichardP:
--- Quote from: RichardP on April 06, 2013, 06:19:31 PM ---... it is best to have a contract that does a good job of covering all contingencies you are likely to face. Boilerplate contracts from the Internet will not give you that kind of contract, but they are a good place to start in figuring out what situations you might face that you hadn't thought of.
--- End quote ---
I made that suggestion to a newbie who does not know which end is up and does not know where to start. If they have the money to buy the contract book, then perhaps they don't need to look at boilerplate contracts from the Internet. But if they don't have the funds, or simply choose to not purchase the book, and if they don't know where to start in putting a contract together, how is it useful to simply tell them the best way to learn is to actually work on it yourself.? They may have all the willingness in the world to work on it themselves. But if they are brand new, and don't know where to start, how can they work on it themselves. Looking at other contracts can at least let them know what categories of issues they should be considering. My advice to do that if needed, then tweak the categories for their own unique situation, and then run it past a health-care lawyer at least gives them a place to start - along with the suggestion that it is not a good idea to just sign their name to whatever they find on the Internet.
I agree with Linda that no one should simply sign their name to boilerplate stuff they find on the Internet. But I do not agree with Linda that a newbie should not look at boilerplate for ideas about what issues they need to consider when customizing a contract for their own situation.
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