What does a business associate do?

Business associates are individuals who perform certain roles and duties that involve safeguarding protected health information on behalf of a covered entity. They perform several duties that include handling and managing claims administration and processing, data processing and analysis, and ensuring quality assurance. In addition, business associates conduct market research and identify prospective clients, and develop and implement client retention plans and sales strategies. They are also responsible for identifying new business partners and opportunities.
Business associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real business associate resumes:
- Manage company's Facebook page and advertisements.
- Develop, implement and manage commission payroll for all associates within the telemarketing department.
- Market the company brand via Facebook and MailChimp.
- Maintain medical APS from doctors on a timely basis.
- Experience with diagnosis coding including ICD-9, CPT-4 and HCPCS codes.
- Organize, update, and maintain company CRM database in preparation for flagship migration to larger corporate-wide CRM.
- Ensure all request for proposal (RFP) requirements are identified and assign to appropriate teaming partner (s).
- Contact candidates for their interest, availability, current pay rates and insurances, and negotiating bill rates for RFP proposals.
- Create PowerPoint presentations for various meetings.
- Maintain workflow for brokerage and non-brokerage accounts.
- Notify payroll officers and agents of necessary payroll deduction changes.
- Prepare other business development and presentation materials in PowerPoint and other graphic form arts.
- Create data visualization reports regarding warehouse usage; empower management to make inform and cost appropriate decisions about construction viability.
- Verify all documents meet ING's guidelines.
- Review; application documents, clients information, underwriters notes, amendments, and verify all documents meet ING's guidelines.
Business associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Business Associates are proficient in Customer Service, Patients, and PowerPoint. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Writing skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Business Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 15%
Performed several major corporate functions spanning executive administration, human resources, payroll, customer service, and office management.
- Patients, 11%
Assured that emergency room records were accurately prepared and statements from patients and parents were properly recorded and securely stored.
- PowerPoint, 6%
Orchestrate PowerPoint Presentations and make sure correct information accurate and correct.
- SQL, 4%
Developed client/server applications using SQL, UNIX, vi Editor.
- Data Analysis, 4%
Managed primary, custom, quantitative projects, including study and survey design, data analysis, & reporting.
- Phone Calls, 4%
Received and handled incoming telephone calls; scheduled and coordinated appointments.
Common skills that a business associate uses to do their job include "customer service," "patients," and "powerpoint." You can find details on the most important business associate responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for a business associate to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what business associates do because "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." Additionally, a business associate resume shows how business associates use interpersonal skills: "maintain high-degree of confidentiality and excellent interpersonal skills to deal with patients and all levels of faculty. "
Writing skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling business associate duties is writing skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." According to a business associate resume, here's how business associates can utilize writing skills in their job responsibilities: "processed individual health and life insurance applications for underwriting department approval. "
Organizational skills. This is an important skill for business associates to perform their duties. For an example of how business associate responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a business associate: "involved in all aspects of business operations for leading organizational development consultant firm. ".
The three companies that hire the most business associates are:
- Randstad North America, Inc.101 business associates jobs
- Lincoln Financial Group98 business associates jobs
- KPMG LLP82 business associates jobs
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Business associate vs. Coordinator
Coordinators are responsible for liaising between the department they are assigned to and any other external party. They oversee projects or agreements. They are in charge of following through negotiations between the two parties regarding work. They see through the conduct of such contracts by ensuring that all terms are amenable to both parties. They maintain records and other necessary data and paperwork. They also ensure that office policy and guidelines are being followed. Coordinators also ensure that all projects are completed efficiently and effectively.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a business associate are more likely to require skills like "sql," "data analysis," "strong analytical," and "phone calls." On the other hand, a job as a coordinator requires skills like "excellent organizational," "excellent guest," "coordinators," and "cpr." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Coordinators earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $51,731. On the other hand, business associates are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $81,202.On average, coordinators reach similar levels of education than business associates. Coordinators are 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 3.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Business associate vs. Clerical specialist
Clerical specialists are office assistants or executive secretaries offering administrative support. The specialists schedule conference meetings or calls, prepare statistical reports and correspondence, and maintain sensitive data. They manage both incoming and outgoing mails and the distribution of letters and packages to administrative offices and staff. Their job includes the redesign and reorganization of the existing filing systems of client and internal documents. They comply with corporate confidentiality, regulations, and guidelines. Skills in data entry, customer service, and medical records are necessary for this job.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, business associate responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "sql," "data analysis," "strong analytical," and "phone calls." Meanwhile, a clerical specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "clerical support," "clerical tasks," "fax machines," and "clerical functions." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Clerical specialists may earn a lower salary than business associates, but clerical specialists earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $33,106. On the other hand, business associates receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $81,202.clerical specialists earn lower levels of education than business associates in general. They're 6.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Business associate vs. Specialist-small business
A small business specialist develops new business programs to meet changing customer demands. They are responsible for ensuring integrity and consistency in the domain of business. They analyze causes of a business issue, obtain business data, and make enquiries. They are responsible for making purchase agreements, confidentiality arrangements, and joint venture arrangement.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from business associate resumes include skills like "patients," "powerpoint," "sql," and "data analysis," whereas a specialist-small business is more likely to list skills in "customer relationships," "business portfolio," "business administration," and "business accounts. "
Most specialist-small businesses achieve a similar degree level compared to business associates. For example, they're 2.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 4.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Business associate vs. Office specialist
An office specialist is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the organization's daily operations. Office specialists must be highly organizational, as well as having excellent time-management skills to handle work units. They have duties including data entry procedures, greeting visitors, responding to customers' inquiries through phone calls and e-mails, and filing and sorting documents. Office specialists are responsible for creating meeting reports, scheduling appointments, evaluating financial statements, coordinating with other staff for event planning, and assisting the senior management with complex functions.
Types of business associate
Updated January 8, 2025











