Health Tech Podcast - Episode 2: Best Practices for Health App Development
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits providers and health plans that receive reimbursement from the federal government from discriminating against individuals in the Covered Entities’ health programs. Such...more
The stakes are high for FemTech – as Benjamin Franklin noted: ‘it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation and only one bad one to lose it.’...more
Wearable technology compiles extensive information on our bodily systems—including activity levels, menstruation and fertility, exercise activity and attainment, food consumption, weight, sleep, noise exposure, heart rate,...more
As we previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced its final changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR), vastly expanding the scope of the Rule’s coverage....more
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) years-long effort to modernize its Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR) in the midst of a swiftly changing technological landscape appears to be coming to an end. On Thursday, May 30,...more
On April 26, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its final rule (Final Rule) making changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR)....more
In part one of our series "FemTech: how this growing industry can build trust, protect privacy and redress healthcare inequity… one app at a time", we take an introductory look at the industry, and offer some...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been aggressively pursuing enforcement actions that involve companies using applications that share consumer personal health information with third parties in violation of the Health...more
With recent events underscoring the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) heightened scrutiny of and enforcement efforts against health app companies collecting or using consumer health information, it's imperative for these same...more
Appropriately so, providers look first to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (HIPAA), to ensure that they comply with regulations regarding patients’ protected health information...more
The Federal Trade Commission has published a detailed blog post on health information, setting the stage for future enforcement … and not just regarding health information. There is some eye opening takeaways in it, making...more
The 21st Century digital age has provided women with numerous sexual and reproductive health tools that track periods, ovulation, and pregnancy. By simply plugging certain health data inputs into these apps, women can now...more
In May, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed changes (the “Proposed Rule”) to the Health Breach Notification Rule (the “Rule”), which, among other items, emphasize that the Rule applies to mobile health applications...more
On June 23, the DOJ and FTC announced the government has obtained substantial injunctive relief, and that the department will collect $100,000 in civil penalties, from an Illinois-based healthcare corporation pursuant to a...more
Background: The pandemic era ushered in exponential growth in the use of remote capabilities for all areas of life, with one of the most critical being the rise in telemedicine. Along with that expansion came an explosion in...more
Direct-to-consumer health and wellness applications are forewarned: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR), 16 C.F.R. part 318, that, if finalized, would cement...more
On May 18, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (the HBNR or the Rule), including clarifying the rule’s applicability to health apps and other similar technologies. These...more
The Federal Trade Commission seeks to clarify how the Health Breach Notification Rule applies to health records collected by health apps and similar consumer health technologies. ...more
On May 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Public Comment (“NPRM”) seeking to amend the Health Breach Notification Rule (“HBNR”). We previously wrote about the...more
On May 17, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) reached a settlement with Easy Healthcare Corporation (“Easy Healthcare”), for its fertility-tracking app, Premom. The agency alleged that Easy Healthcare failed to...more
On May 17, District of Colombia Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced the settlement of an investigation into Easy Healthcare Corporation, requiring the company to change its privacy practices involving the ovulation...more
On April 27, 2023, the Washington state governor signed into law the My Health My Data Act, also known as the MHMDA. The majority of the law’s provisions will take effect on March 31, 2024, providing companies with one...more
The Washington My Health My Data Act (the MHMD Act) was signed into law on April 27, 2023, creating new restrictions on the collection and disclosure of "consumer health data" by companies in Washington or that is related to...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (Proposed Rule) on April 12, 2023, proposing amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and...more
Much is being written about “remote work” – is it productive, will demand for it continue or be curtailed in a recession, is cybersecurity compromised, does it inhibit workplace culture, collaboration, etc. Lots of questions,...more