At the International Association of Privacy Professionals (“IAPP”) Global Privacy Summit in Washington, D.C. on March 5th and March 6th, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) was clear in its message that privacy was a top priority for the agency. The FTC had a strong presence at the conference. Three of the five
FDA Continues Its De-Regulatory Trend with the Release of the Wellness Guidance
FDA published the long awaited draft guidance on wellness products last Friday. The guidance is a positive step forward for industry in that it proposes that certain general wellness products will not be subject to FDA regulation.
The draft guidance clarifies that FDA does not intend to enforce its regulations against products that are “low
“HIPAA-COMPLIANT” Texting of PHI: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.
By: Alaap Shah and Ali Lakhani
The Good:
“Hey Doc, just shoot me a text . . .”
The business case supporting text messaging in a health care environment is compelling – it is mobile, fast, direct, and increases dialogue between physicians and patients as well as streamlines the often inefficient page/callback paradigm that
Mobile Privacy & the FTC Act: Advice for Health Technology Companies
In the healthcare industry we often associate information privacy and security enforcement with HIPAA and state privacy laws. However, a lesser known but in some cases just as significant regulator of information privacy is the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). This is especially true with regard to mobile health applications, which depending on how they
Privacy and Security Are Paramount When Designing Healthcare Apps
Mobile application (“app”) development is the new boon for technology companies of all sizes, and the phrase “There’s an app for that” tells the story of just how much this market has grown and matured. Most of the early app development focused on low risk opportunities—those involving free or low-cost social media or gaming apps.
To BYOD or Not to BYOD, That Is the Question . . . When Protecting Health Information
I’m sure most of you know about BYOB, but do you know about BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). This is the term used when a company chooses to forgo issuing company-owned mobile computing devices (think smartphones and tablets), and encourages its employees to use their own personal mobile devices for business purposes. And in the
Telemedicine and the ACA Triple Aim of Improving Access and Quality and Lowering Cost
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has an awful lot in it. But at its core, the legislation is an attempt to achieve a few key goals:
- Improve access to healthcare,
- Increase healthcare quality, and
- Bend the cost curve to make healthcare more affordable.
There is little debate that each of these goals is