Health Care Law Blog

IT Contract Review

As health care providers continue to increase their use of technology, they are asked more and more frequently to enter into software or other IT contracts.  While many health care providers sign these agreements without reviewing them, doing so can create unwanted liability and unexpected problems. 

These issues were the topic of a recent State Bar of Michigan Health Care Law Section Webinar entitled “Software Licenses: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You.” Sam Frederick from Foster Swift was a featured speaker.  His presentation discussed important revisions that should be made to software provisions, as well as the consequences for relying on certain boilerplate provisions. In addition, health care providers must require that their software vendors with access to protected health information sign Business Associate Agreements.  While many software agreements have business associate-like provisions included in them, they often do not meet all of the required elements under HIPAA.  This exposes the health care provider to liability.

In summary, health care providers should have their attorney review any software or IT contracts presented to them and require that their vendors execute Business Associate Agreements.  For assistance with this matters, please contact Sam Frederick at (517) 371-8103 or sfrederick@fosterswift.com 

Categories: HIPAA, Providers