Associates Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.

A Business Associate is a separate organization, providing services to a covered entity, which require the exchange of PHI.An agreement must be in place between covered entities and their business associates.This agreement defines the processes that will be implemented to ensure the privacy and security of PHI.Examples of Business Associates may include collection agencies, attorneys, consultants, and accountants, requiring access to PHI.Business Associate agreements are not generally required between two covered entities involved in treatment, payment, or health care operations.

In 1900, a German scientist, Karl Landsteiner, discovered that blood groups differ from one individual to another. He took blood samples from five associates and himself, allowed them to clot, and then separated the serum from the cells. Landsteiner found that when he mixed the serum and red cells from different individuals, some samples clumped and some didn’t. Our present day classification of the ABO system is based on Landsteiner’s realization that agglutination occurred because of highly reactive antigens present on the red blood cell which corresponded to antibodies present in the serum. Landsteiner isolated and named the red cell antigens “A” and “B” and the corresponding antibodies “Anti-A” and “Anti-B.” If the red cells contained neither antigen, he called these cells “O”, representing zero antigens present. The fourth type of red cells, “AB”, was discovered in 1902 by Von Decastello and Sturli, associates of Landsteiner. “AB” cells contained both A and B antigens on their surface.

In 1981, Dr. James Westgard and his associates developed a multi-rule procedure for interpreting control data. Since then, a number of sophisticated quality control schemes or analogues based on this multi-rule logic have evolved. To show how the Westgard Rules may be applied in quality control, three of the most common rejection limits will be illustrated in the following pages.