HIPAA is a legal and technical framework to manage protected health information (PHI). It is federal law, and is operative in every state and locality.

Officially, HIPAA is the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act., a federal law managed and enforced by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

PHI is any information about a patient's past, present, or future physical or mental health, AND which specifically identifies an individual.

Both Health Information AND an Individual Identifier are required for PHI. PHI may exist in any form: on paper, in verbal conversations, or in electronic form. PHI may also be transmitted via internal networks and the Internet, with adequate safeguards.

HIPAA affects nearly everyone in healthcare, including patients and providers such as medical clinics, offices, hospitals, labs, and insurance companies. It also applies to organizations that provide healthcare. These are known as Covered Entities. HIPAA affects all workforce members and operations of a “Covered Entity”.

HIPAA also affects companies or organizations, such as software vendors or data hosting companies, that provide services to Covered Entities. These are known as Business Associates.

A BA is a person or company who shares access to PHI, but is not a direct healthcare provider. "Sharing" includes accessing PHI, and also storing, transmitting, and receiving PHI.

BAs, their employees, and contractors should always maintain privacy, professionalism, and security around PHI under their control.

Tarjimly is a Business Associate under HIPAA since the organization handles PHI. Tarjimly follows all required HIPAA rules and regulations.

Tarjimly signs a formal BA Agreement (BAA) when it shares PHI with any organization. This includes Covered Entities such as doctors’ offices, hospitals, and some relief organizations. It also includes providers that offer paid or volunteer services that come into contact with PII (e.g. Tarjimly Translators, Amazon).
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Tarjimly meets all of the Federal Requirements outlined by the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Tarjimly's technology and processes work to protect your data, and Tarjimly Staff and volunteers also learn how to keep your data confidential and legally agree to do so.

To become HIPAA compliant, an organization must sign a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) with Tarjimly. To inquire into this, please email team@tarjim.ly .