No, you did not read. Of course it applies to more than billing, BUT, in order for a health care provider to be a covered entity, in HHS's own words, you have to electronically bill. Now, everyone who bills any government health care plan, such as medicare, and medicaid, must bill electronically now, so they are covered entities.
From
Are You a Covered Entity? HIPAA - General Information
"The Administrative Simplification standards adopted by Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) apply to any entity that is
a health care provider that conducts certain transactions in electronic form (called here a "covered health care provider").
a health care clearinghouse.
a health plan.
An entity that is one or more of these types of entities is referred to as a "covered entity" in the Administrative Simplification regulations."
Dispatch - while everything has a "grey area" coming from the "anyone can sue anyone anytime" thought, HHS and the major EMS information providers have all had many legal talking heads state that there are basically two forms of dispatch - one by the agency that would be covered, and one by a entity other than the covered entity such as a 911 center, or city dispatch dispatching a seperate entity that it actually the EMS agency. In one case it is a covered entity - in the other it is not.
While considering this, each group has stated that no matter which form of dispatch, reasonable common sense should be used - name and nature of call is perfectly acceptable IF it is needed to get the units to the scene and provide them with safety information related to that call.
