By Matthew Fisher – The FTC recently reasserted itself into the privacy discussion when it comes to healthcare information. Given the defined scope of HIPAA that does not cover a number of growing areas where healthcare data can be found, it is important to remember that agencies beyond the HHS OCR can act to require protection.
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The FTC announced the withdrawal of two antitrust policy statements related to enforcement in health care markets: Statements of Antitrust Enforcement Policy in Health Care, published in August 1996, and Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding Accountable Care Organizations Participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program from October 2011.
By Matt Fisher – The early days of February 2023 saw two very different settlements announced related to healthcare data breaches. One arguably follows a well-known course and the other could be a sign of things to come.
By Harris Meyer – Fresh off the Federal Trade Commission’s successful challenges to four hospital mergers, the Biden administration’s new majority on the commission is primed to more aggressively combat consolidation in the health care industry than it has in past years.
By Susan Walberg JD MPA CHC – As I have written in previous articles about HIPAA and health-tech, many apps in the marketplace have been largely unregulated with respect to the privacy and security of healthcare data. In order for healthcare-related apps to be regulated, for the most part, they needed to be covered under HIPAA.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a policy statement affirming that health apps and connected devices that collect or use consumers’ health information must comply with the Health Breach Notification Rule, which requires that they notify consumers and others when their health data is breached.
WEDI issued a statement on behalf of its Board Chair, Jay Eisenstock in response to the FTC’s regulatory review and request for public comment concerning the 2009 Health Breach Notification (HBN) Rule (85 Fed. Reg. 31085).
Next on the FTC’s regulatory review calendar: the Health Breach Notification Rule. In place since 2009, the Rule requires vendors of personal health records and related entities that aren’t covered by HIPAA to notify individuals, the FTC, and, in some cases…
FTC Submits Comment on Final Information Blocking Rule to the Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.