HIPAA for Business Associates

If your company handles protected health information on behalf of a healthcare provider or plan, HIPAA applies to you directly, not just to your client. This course is an introduction to HIPAA compliance built specifically for business associates: answering services, medical billing and transcription, software and IT companies, marketing agencies, cleaning services, medical device manufacturers, legal services, consultants, and other healthcare-adjacent businesses. It walks through the federal rules you are responsible for and shows how to apply them to your own work, so you can avoid the criminal and civil penalties that come with getting it wrong.

What you'll learn

• What HIPAA is for, and how the Omnibus Final Rule changed the compliance obligations and liabilities of business associates

• The key elements of the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule, and the Enforcement Rule

• The Breach Notification process and the burden of proof behind it

• The Unique Identifiers and the Transaction and Code Set Rules

• What a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) says and does, and how to apply all of these rules to your own functions

Also covered

The course works through permitted use and disclosure of PHI, the Minimum Necessary principle, individual access and rights, personal representatives and minors, the interplay with state law, administrative and technical safeguards, privacy and security for mobile devices, civil money penalties and the defenses against them, recent cloud computing guidance, and real-life examples of HIPAA breaches. It also incorporates the 2021 and 2022 updates from the ONC Cures Act and CMS Final Rules.

Course details

The course is fully online and self-paced. You can print your certificate of completion as soon as you pass, the program is worth 0.2 IACET-approved CEUs, and your access runs for 60 days from enrollment.

Common questions

Who is this course for?

Business associates and their staff, meaning any healthcare-adjacent company that creates, receives, or handles protected health information for a covered entity.

Does it carry continuing education credit?

Yes. The course is worth 0.2 IACET-approved CEUs and gives you a printable certificate of completion.

Is the course online and self-paced?

Yes. You can take it anytime, from anywhere, at your own pace.

Related workplace compliance training

HIPAA usually sits alongside the rest of an employer's annual compliance stack. See Harassment and Discrimination for Employees, OSHA 10-Hour General Industry, and Active Shooter Response Training. Browse the full compliance catalog.