The HITECH Act—including the HITECH Final Rule’s provisions about HIPAA, data privacy, security, and breach notification—is an issue we have covered in detail previously. According to a June 17, 2015 press release, the former CFO of the Shelby Regional Medical Center in Texas has pleaded guilty to making a false statement in “representing that the … Continue Reading
On January 27, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a 71-page Staff Report on privacy and security issues with the Internet of Things (IoT) - the growing ability of everyday devices to monitor and communicate information through the Internet. The Staff Report - which follows up on the FTC's public workshop over concerns with the IoT, as well as the FTC's first enforcement action brought in September 2013 - is especially relevant in the life sciences industry, which may see potentially revolutionary advances as a result of the IoT.… Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have each proposed new rules to extend existing protections that allow hospitals to donate electronic health record (EHR) technology to physicians who refer patients to their facilities. By way of background, in 2006, CMS established an exception to the Stark self-referral law to allow hospitals to donate EHR technology to physicians under certain circumstances. Likewise, in 2006, the OIG established a safe-harbor to protect such EHR donations from enforcement under the federal anti-kickback statute. While both protections are set to expire on December 31, 2013, the proposed rules would extend the provisions until the end of 2016 as a means to facilitate the adoption of EHR technology.… Continue Reading
On February 15, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") published a final rule reclassifying Medical Device Data Systems ("MDDS") as Class I medical devices exempt from 510(k) premarket notification requirements. FDA defined MDDS as medical devices that are intended to transfer, store, convert from one format to another according to preset specifications, or display "medical device data." FDA explicitly excluded electronic health record ("EHR") and computerized physician order entry ("CPOE") systems from the MDDS Final Rule. Because MDDS do not "provide new or unique algorithms or functions," FDA concluded that general controls, such as the Quality System Regulations are sufficient to mitigate any risks associated with MDDS.… Continue Reading
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the "ARRA"). The sweeping $790 billion economic stimulus package includes a number of health care policy provisions. Reed Smith's Health Care Memorandum summarizes the major health policy provisions of the Act.… Continue Reading
