The Federal Trade Commission seems to be getting serious about unauthorized disclosures of data collected by health apps. In a Policy Statement issued on September 15, 2021, the FTC says
Continue Reading HIPAA or Not, Health Apps Must Provide Breach Notification
Elizabeth G. Litten
Business Associates Beware: You May Need To Vaccinate Staff Under Recent Biden Executive Order
President Biden issued an Executive Order on September 9, 2021 (the “EO”) that will lead to required COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care facilities that receive Medicare or…
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“Are You Vaccinated?” Asking, Answering, and Clarifying HIPAA
HIPAA has been around for a quarter century, but confusion continues as to its scope and applicability. The COVID pandemic, surge in Delta variant cases, and increasing number of employer…
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4 Key Take-Aways For Harnessing AI In Compliance with HIPAA
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely viewed as a valuable tool for improving health and healthcare. It is being used by major technology companies such as Google, small start-up companies, and…
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Flo Health App Fallout: HIPAA-like Breach Notification Rule Not Enforced by FTC
Flo Health, Inc., which marketed an app used by more than 100 million women interested in tracking their personal menstruation and fertility information, seems to be getting off easily as…
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New Year Likely to Bring New Incentive for Cybersecurity Investment
H.R. 7898, sent to the President for signature on December 24, 2020 may be the HIPAA holiday gift covered entities and business associates have been waiting for. The bill…
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Re-Setting the Clock for Responding to Individual Access Requests Under the Information Blocking Rule
Covered entities beware: a timing pitfall lurks within the recently adopted rules prohibiting information blocking. We have posted about OCR’s “Right to Access Initiative” and numerous enforcement actions taken to…
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Which Privacy Protections Apply? HIPAA, FERPA and COVID-19
A recent conversation with a colleague in California prompted me to write this. He said that as part of its back-to-school plan, his children’s elementary school district “highly encouraged” that…
Continue Reading Which Privacy Protections Apply? HIPAA, FERPA and COVID-19
New OCR Resource Adds Guidance on HIPAA and Direct-to-Consumer Health Apps
A tricky issue for mobile health app developers since the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released its first “Health App Use Scenarios & HIPAA” guidance back in 2016 has been…
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Updated OCR Guidance on Contacting Recovered COVID-19 Patients
The Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and Human Services (OCR) provided guidance in June that reassured covered entity health care providers and that it is generally…
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