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anybody here carries a liability insurance - MTsince99

Posted: Aug 30, 2013

Hello, I just want to ask if anybody here carries a liability insurance. How much do you pay? Anybody here can share with me information about being a business associate (independent contractor) in compliance with the new HIPAA law? Thanks.

Suggestion - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
It's a lot of information . . . probably more than anyone has time to explain.

Try googling HIPAA HITECH. You will come up with a number of useful sites that explain everything.

No way. No one pays me enough to afford it. - Let the lawyers go after the MTSO, instead!

[ In Reply To ..]
o

just not how it works - sm

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If you're putting yourself out there as an IC, then you are on equal footing with the MTSO.

This is going to be particularly important for those MTs who are misclassified as an IC because the MTSO is treating you like an employee and yet you will not be covered under their liability umbrella.

If you're misclassified or think you are NOW is the time to defer to the IRS for a ruling. It's not hard.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Independent-Contractor-(Self-Employed)-or-Employee%3F

MT insurance - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm thinking, if there ever were a case where anyone would want to sue you over an MT issue (and I'm not saying there would ever be such a case), they would only sue you for what they can get. So, if you have insurance, it makes it more likely that you would be sued? If you are just a poor MT, maybe they wouldn't waste their time?? However, when thinking about the ruthlessness of some lawyers and how some MT big shots like to blame MTs for everything, right down to not being able to magically decipher the indecipherables, I'm thinking they would, at the very least, try to put you out of business, to use you as their scapegoat. So, maybe business liability insurance isn't such a bad idea for that reason.

Some information - HITECH and BA

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't carry liability insurance, but the chance of a data breach originating from me is almost nil due to my personal situation and how my office is set up.

Here's some information about how the HITECH Act affects business associates. It mainly concerns breaches surrounding PHI.

"The HITECH Act now applies certain HIPAA provisions directly to business associates. Formerly, privacy and security requirements were imposed on business associates via contractual agreements with covered entities. As we have noted elsewhere in this guide, we suspect that many small providers do not have the requisite contracts (aka Business Associate Agreements) in place. In some cases Business Associate Agreements (contracts) exist but may not meet all the requirements of the rules. Under the lax enforcement regime of the past, lack of contractual agreements has apparently not proved problematic for the provider community as a whole. This may soon change.

Under the HITECH Act, business associates are now directly "on the compliance hook" since they are required to comply with the safeguards contained in the HIPAA Security Rule (SR). The HITECH Act does not speak directly to the rationale, but even casual observers understand that a potentially massive expansion in the exchange of ePHI increases the privacy and security concerns of all stakeholders. Most, if not all, software vendors providing EHR systems will clearly qualify as business associates. Requiring vendors to comply directly ensures that more provider/vendor dialog will occur regarding the necessary Business Associate Agreements (contracts), and regarding other compliance issues of mutual interest. The vendors themselves will insist on it.

The "fun" for business associates does not stop with HIPAA Security Rule compliance and contractual agreements. The Act requires business associates to report security breaches to covered entities consistent with the notification requirements. Also, they are now subject to civil and criminal penalties under HIPAA if certain conditions exist, as mentioned in the introduction of this section. Finally, the business associate requirements listed above are illustrative and not exhaustive. There are additional business associate requirements that may be imposed depending on how the relationship with the provider is defined.

The bottom line is that business associates and providers will share more joint responsibilities than they have previously. Large providers, with the help of counsel and other specialized staff, will not likely be surprised by these changes. However, for many small providers the HITECH Act may be the first real introduction to the business associate concept-yet one more regulatory requirement that will require serious attention."

http://www.hipaasurvivalguide.com/hitech-act-summary.php

USED to be insured in other field. First two - recommended actions cost nothing:

[ In Reply To ..]
1. Educate yourself about the law as it applies to you and comply with it. Refuse any push from your clients to ignore the law. (This last could be the most difficult but must be done.)

2. Refuse to do work at all for a facility or practice you find questionable. If you've been doing work for a doctor who uses the same vital signs for everyone, keeps a dirty office, overbills patients, whatever, disassociate yourself. Bad as this is, it may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Replacing a client wouldn't cost nothing, of course, but you probably don't need to. Keep your eyes open for signs of trouble, though.

3. Then, wait to get liability insurance while you see the industry respond to this new status and insurance companies start marketing to IC MTs. If you've taken care of #1 and #2, your chances of getting in trouble with the law, small already, will be much smaller still.

Note, as this develops, your clients may put an end to the waiting by requiring you to be insured. In any case, I'm not recommending going uninsured permanently. Your homeowners' insurance is there in case a tree falls on your house, even if you feel that is very unlikely. Same for professional liability.

Just want to know - MTsince99

[ In Reply To ..]
if anybody here is already HIPAA compliant with the FINAL RULE. My company is asking me to complete the requirements P&P, BAA, and liability insurance in order to continue work. I just want to know and get some input where you got the liability insurance and how much it cost, and if you did your own paperwork or consulted an attorney. I have read intensively about this issue, had taken the HIPAA test from the company, just weighing my options about the insurance and how to do the Policies &Procedures and Business Associate Agreement and how I should word it in a manner that I will be protected. Thanks.

Have you checked with AHDI? - (see message)

[ In Reply To ..]
I know that at one time if you were a member of AHDI you could purchase it through them. It was with Seabury and Smith. If you are not a member of ADHI, maybe Seabury and Smith is a place to start.

So far my company has not required us to do anything with this, and I understand that the E&O liability insurance is expensive compared with what nurses and other allied health professionals have to have. Good luck.

I did check on that compan - MTsince99

[ In Reply To ..]
but have yet to get a response to them and time is running out. I have been looking around but could not find anything else :-( I can't believe nobody here is an IC/BA with liability insurance.

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