Teamwork Healthcare facilitates seamless communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals. Due to the nature of the data they deal with, HIPAA compliance is required to ensure the privacy and security of patients. Teamwork Healthcare does offer to sign a business associate agreement and is HIPAA compliant.
What is Teamwork Healthcare?
Teamwork is a company that provides services related to healthcare management, particularly in scheduling and coordination. Their function is to offer software solutions and platforms that help healthcare providers, such as hospitals, clinics, and therapy centers, optimize their operations and improve efficiency.
Teamwork and business associate agreement
First, let's start with a quick recap of terms. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of individuals' personal health information, otherwise known as protected health information (PHI).
As previously discussed, HIPAA applies to covered entities, including healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses. It also applies to business associates of these covered entities. These are entities that perform certain functions or activities on behalf of the covered entity.
A business associate agreement (BAA) is a written contract between a covered entity and a business associate. It is required by law for HIPAA compliance. In the case of Teamwork, the service would certainly fall into the category of business associate if it's servicing customers that would store, process, or transmit PHI on its email platform.
Teamwork Healthcare does offer a BAA to its customers. The BAA also specifies the obligations and activities of the customer, such as not making impermissible requests regarding PHI and implementing appropriate safeguards for PHI protection. The agreement further addresses permitted uses and disclosures of PHI by Teamwork, including the performance of agreements, management, and administration responsibilities, data aggregation services, and reporting legal violations.
Related: HIPAA Compliant Email: The Definitive Guide
Conclusion
Teamwork appears to be HIPAA compliant based on Teamwork's BAA and their acknowledgment of hosting and providing protection for customer data that may contain PHI.
Conclusion: Teamwork Healthcare is HIPAA compliant
Kirsten Peremore
