On August 5, Nicole M. Lehman — a senior attorney in the Health Care Section of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Harrisburg office — will present a BNA webinar titled, "Business Associates at Risk Under New HITECH Act Obligations."

The webinar — taking place from 1-2:30 p.m. — will cover the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH), which significantly changed the HIPAA compliance environments for Business Associates (BAs). Previously, BAs were bound only contractually to Covered Entities by virtue of their Business Associate Agreements. As of February 17, 2010, BAs are now directly regulated by and subject to direct penalties by HHS. BAs are now legally responsible for direct breach notification obligations and a host of other onerous requirements under both the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Many HIPAA Covered Entities are now rushing to send out amendments to previous Business Associate Agreements.

Find out what every BA needs to know before signing a Business Associate Agreement, in order to meet the heightened requirements of the HITECH Act. Learn about:

• New administrative, physical and technical safeguard requirements for BAs under the HIPAA Security Rule.
• Documentation requirements.
• Required risk assessments.
• BA breach and penalty risks and changes in enforcement actions directed at BAs.

To learn more or to register, click here.