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The new Apple Watch Series 4® is one of the more recent and sophisticated consumer health engagement tools. It includes a sensor that lets wearers take an electrocardiogram (ECG) reading and detect irregular heart rhythms. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved these functions as Class II medical devices, which generally means that they have a high to moderate risk to the user. The FDA approval letters describe the Apple Watch Series 4 functions as intended for over-the-counter use and not to replace traditional methods of diagnosis or treatment.

Tech developers and HIPAA lawyers often mean different things when describing a health app or medical device as HIPAA compliant. For example, a health app developer will likely focus on infrastructure, whereas the lawyer will likely focus on implementation. When asked about HIPAA, the app developer might rely on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification to demonstrate its data privacy and security controls and highlight how the infrastructure supports HIPAA compliance. The HIPAA lawyer, on the other hand, will likely focus on how (and by whom) data is created, received, maintained and transmitted and must look to the HIPAA regulations and guidance documents issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to determine when and whether the data is subject to HIPAA protection. ISO certification does not equate to HIPAA certification; in fact, there is no HIPAA compliance certification process, and it is often difficult from the outset to determine if and when HIPAA applies.

As discussed in this prior blog post, HHS’s guidance on various “Health App Scenarios” underscores that fact that health data collected by an app may be HIPAA-protected in some circumstances and not in others, depending on the relationship between an app developer and a covered entity or business associate. The consumer (or app user) is unlikely to understand exactly when or whether HIPAA applies, particularly if the consumer has no idea whether such a relationship exists.

Back to the Apple Watch Series 4, and the many other consumer-facing medical devices or health apps in already on the market or in development. When do the nuances of HIPAA applicability begin to impede the potential health benefits of the device or app? If I connect my Apple Watch to Bluetooth and create a pdf file to share my ECG data with my physician, it becomes protected heath information (PHI) upon my physician’s receipt of the data. It likely was not PHI before then (unless my health care provider told me to buy the watch and has process in place to collect the data from me).

Yet the value of getting real-time ECG data lies not in immediate user access, but in immediate physician/provider access. If my device can immediately communicate with my provider, without my having to take the interim step of moving the data into a separate file or otherwise capturing it, my physician can let me know if something is of medical concern. I may not want my health plan or doctor getting detailed information from my Fitbit® or knowing whether I ate dessert every night last week, but if I’m at risk of experiencing a medical emergency or if my plan or provider gives me an incentive to engage in healthy behavior, I may be willing to allow real-time or ongoing access to my information.

The problem, particularly when it comes to health apps and consumer health devices, is that HIPAA is tricky when it comes to non-linear information flow or information that changes over time. It can be confusing when information shifts from being HIPAA-protected or not, depending on who has received it. As consumers become more engaged and active in managing health conditions, it is important that they realize when or whether HIPAA applies and how their personal data could be used (or misused) by recipients. Findings from Deloitte’s 2018 consumer health care survey suggest that many consumers are interested in using apps to help diagnose and treat their conditions. For example, 29% were interested in using voice recognition software to identify depression or anxiety, but perhaps not all of the 29% would be interested in using the software if they were told their information would not be protected by HIPAA (unless and until received by their provider, or if the app developer was acting as a business associate at the time of collection).

Perhaps certain HIPAA definitions or provisions can be tweaked to better fit today’s health data world, but, in the meantime, health app users beware.

“Maybe” is the take-away from recent guidance posted on OCR’s mHealth Developer Portal, making me wonder whether the typical health app user will know when her health information is or is not subject to HIPAA protection.

The guidance is clear and straightforward and contains no real surprises to those of us familiar with HIPAA, but it highlights the reality that HIPAA, originally enacted close to 20 years ago, often becomes murky in the context of today’s constantly developing technology. Here’s an excerpt from the guidance that illustrates this point:

Consumer downloads to her smart phone a mobile PHR app offered by her health plan that offers users in its network the ability to request, download and store health plan records. The app also contains the plan’s wellness tools for members, so they can track their progress in improving their health.  Health plan analyzes health information and data about app usage to understand the effectiveness of its health and wellness offerings.  App developer also offers a separate, direct-to-consumer version of the app that consumers can use to store, manage, and organize their health records, to improve their health habits and to send health information to providers.

Is the app developer a business associate under HIPAA, such that the app user’s information is subject to HIPAA protection?

Yes, with respect to the app offered by the health plan, and no, when offering the direct-to-consumer app. Developer is a business associate of the health plan, because it is creating, receiving, maintaining, or transmitting protected health information (PHI) on behalf of a covered entity.  Developer must comply with applicable HIPAA Rules requirements with respect to the PHI involved in its work on behalf of the health plan.  But its “direct-to-consumer” product is not provided on behalf of a covered entity or other business associate, and developer activities with respect to that product are not subject to the HIPAA Rules.  Therefore, as long as the developer keeps the health information attached to these two versions of the app separate, so that information from the direct-to-consumer version is not part of the product offering to the covered entity health plan, the developer does not need to apply HIPAA protections to the consumer information obtained through the “direct-to-consumer” app.

So if I download this app because my health plan offers it, my PHI should be HIPAA-protected, but what if I inadvertently download the “direct-to-consumer” version? Will it look different or warn me that my information is not protected by HIPAA?  Will the app developer have different security controls for the health plan-purchased app versus the direct-to-consumer app?

HIPAA only applies to (and protects) individually identifiable health information created, received, maintained or transmitted by a covered entity or business associate, so perhaps health app users should be given a “Notice of Non-(HIPAA) Privacy Practices” before inputting health information into an app that exists outside the realm of HIPAA protection.

Health-related technology has developed light-years faster than health information privacy and security protection laws and policies, and consumers can find new mobile health applications for a wide range of purposes ranging from diabetes management to mole or rash evaluation to fitness tracking.  Smart mobile app developers wondering when and how HIPAA privacy and security requirements affect their products need to take a step back and ask that most basic of HIPAA questions:  What am I?

The question one that has been posed on this blog in the past, and one worth returning to on a regular basis because the answer is not always obvious, but is critical for HIPAA compliance.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a letter written to U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio regarding development and use of mobile health apps and HIPAA compliance reminding him (and anyone reading the letter) that:

“The first question for any entity … is whether it is a covered entity or a business associate within the meaning of the HIPAA rules.” 

The Secretary then helpfully provides links to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) website’s “frequently asked questions” tools (see here for examples of “Who are Business Associates” and here for information on Covered Entities) and points out that OCR works closely with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) developing guidance and tools (a tool specific to mobile device privacy and security is available here) for securing health information technology.   However, there’s no quick and easy way to figure out whether HIPAA applies to a specific mobile health application.  The inquiry must always go back to the beginning:  are you a Business Associate (or subcontractor of a Business Associate) or a Covered Entity?  If not, while there may be other state and federal laws that require you protect individually identifiable information (of which protected health information, or PHI, is a subset), HIPAA does not apply.

Bear in mind that your HIPAA identity will change depending on who is using you and for what purpose.  If you develop a mobile health app allowing an individual to create, receive, maintain or transmit information about herself, it is likely the app is not covered by HIPAA because the individual is not acting as a Business Associate or Covered Entity when using the app.  Even if the individual uses the app to send her PHI to her health care provider, the app most likely will not be subject to HIPAA, just as the patient herself is not subject to HIPAA with respect to information about herself she chooses to share with her provider. However, if you develop the app for use by the health care provider, you very well may be a Business Associate to the Covered Entity health care provider.  In this scenario, if you are providing a service on behalf of the provider that involves your access to PHI (whether sent by the individual patient herself or not), you must comply with HIPAA.

So while the basic “What am I?” question sounds simple, the answer requires consideration of who is downloading and using the mobile health app you create, and the purpose for which it is being used.