Since Paubox is a Business Associate to thousands of customers, we’ve been wondering if they are able to use Cognito Forms in a HIPAA compliant manner. In fact, we've noticed more vendors, customers, and prospects asking about HIPAA compliant services. This is especially true now as we see an accelerated, long overdue adoption of digital transformation in healthcare.
We know the HIPAA industry is vast, so we can empathize with just how many people need to use cloud services in this sector. Today we will determine if Cognito Forms offers HIPAA compliant service or not.
Cognito Forms
Cognito Forms is an online form builder that offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Cognito Forms was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina.
What is a Business Associate?
A Business Associate is a person or company that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for a Covered Entity. In a nutshell, the role of a Business Associate is to help Covered Entities comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule
Read full article: What does it mean to be a Business Associate?
Business Associate Agreement provisions
If a Business Associate provides services to a Covered Entity, then a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) must be in place. A BAA is a written contract between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate and is required by law for HIPAA compliance. At a minimum, a Business Associate Agreement contains 10 provisions.
Read full article: Business Associate Agreement Provisions
Cognito Forms and the Business Associate Agreement
We checked the Cognito Forms site for mention of their ability to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). We found the following pages:
On those pages, we can see that:
- Cognito Forms will sign a BAA for customers who choose an Enterprise plan
- Enterprise plans start at $99 /mo
Does Cognito Forms offer HIPAA Compliant Service?
The Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is a key component to HIPAA compliance between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate. We were able to learn the following about Cognito Forms about their ability to be considered a HIPAA compliant solution:
- Cognito Forms states they are willing to sign a BAA with their customers, as long as they choose an Enterprise plan
Conclusion: Cognito Forms can be configured as a HIPAA compliant cloud service.
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Hoala Greevy
