Healthcare facilities and management companies maintain a copious number of contracts at any given time with providers and third party vendors. In the past, this meant a cumbersome manual process and pitfalls in compliance due to details falling through the cracks. With government-mandated reform being implemented and more stringent contractual obligations, facilities and providers can no longer afford oversights.

On February 17, 2010, the HITECH bill went into effect requiring that all third party technology companies be held accountable to HIPAA requirements when they enter into an agreement with a healthcare organization. It is the organization’s responsibility to ensure that all of their vendors adhere to these requirements, and therefore, it is even more critical that they have a way of tracking and updating contracts.

Industry experts advise, “Business associate contracts will be high visibility HHS audit points. If no agreement exists where one is required, that alone may lead to finding of willful neglect.” With the Contraxx contract management system, businesses design contracts to adhere to standards and track them for alerts and reporting that ensures they are in compliance.

“As one of the largest children's healthcare systems in the country, we use Contraxx to manage all of our contracts from temp staffing agreements, to physician agreements to landscaping. Everything is in the system,” said Laura Austin, contract administrator, Nemours. “With the HITECH requirements, the system has helped us tighten up our procedures to be compliant. Our auditors were very pleased with their findings.”

For more information on how Ecteon can help your healthcare business stay compliant, visit www.ecteon.com.

About Ecteon

Headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn., Ecteon recognizes that contract management is a complex function for most organizations, large or small. Ecteon provides a full range of contract management services, including strategic planning, implementation, training and support. The company has extensive expertise and knowledge across multiple industries and offers consulting services to help clients optimize their contract management systems. Ecteon's experience provides unique insights that enable customers to effectively and reliably manage their entire contract lifecycle.