Digital Health & Technology

Expert Analysis

• 5 Tips For In-House Counsel Anticipating Cyber Class Actions

  

  In light of a 270% increase in data breaches this year, and the attendant class actions, in-house counsel can prepare to efficiently manage litigation by focusing on certain initial steps, ranging from multidistrict litigation strategy to insurance best practices, say David McDowell and Nancy Thomas at MoFo.

• Where Data Privacy And CFPB Are Headed Under Biden

  

  Data privacy is likely to be a key area of legislative and enforcement focus for President-elect Joe Biden, and consumer financial protection is expected to be an immediate priority due to the economic impact of the pandemic, with the most drastic shift likely to occur at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

• Ethics Considerations For Law Firms Implementing AI

  

  Richard Finkelman and Yihua Astle at Berkeley Research Group discuss the ethical and bias concerns law firms must address when implementing artificial intelligence-powered applications for recruiting, conflict identification and client counseling.

• The Legal Implications Of Mobile Health Advancements

  

  With the pandemic rapidly accelerating the timeline for the shift to remote and mobile health care, providers will need to keep a close eye on new privacy and cybersecurity risks, and on new potential to collect real-time information from patients, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

• The Post-Election State AG Enforcement Landscape

  

  Election results so far have kept the number of Republican and Democratic state attorneys general even, and no matter the outcome of the presidential race, AGs will work across the aisle on important issues like health care, competition and the environment, says former Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan at Kirkland.

• What A Trump Or Biden Win Will Mean For State AGs

  

  The outcome of the presidential election will have significant consequences on cooperation between federal agencies and state attorneys general, but either way robust multistate investigations — especially in the consumer protection space — will continue, says Sean Riley at Cozen O'Connor.

• Outside Whistleblowers Are Critical To Exposing Fraud

  

  Outsiders like industry experts, competitors, public interest organizations and concerned citizens often have deep knowledge, industry data and financial incentives that put them in a better position than insiders to spot fraud, say attorneys at Youman & Caputo, Fox Rothschild, Goldstein & Russell and Herrera Purdy.

• Comparing Recent State Data Breach Law Updates

  

  Public and private entities should revisit their incident response plans to ensure compliance with and understand the differences among heightened data breach notification requirements that five states and Washington, D.C., added or amended this year, says Jane Petoskey at Polsinelli.

• Best Practices For Health Care Mergers In The COVID-19 Era

  

  Health providers considering consolidation as a result of the pandemic's impact should attempt to mitigate antitrust enforcers' concerns by substantiating a merger with evidence of cost and quality efficiencies and making efforts to seek competition-friendly alternatives, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

• Assessing Health Data Privacy Damages During A Pandemic

  

  Class action litigation related to data privacy in the health care industry is expected to trend upward during the COVID-19 era due to increased reliance on telehealth and contact tracing initiatives, heightening the importance of understanding the different economic approaches and challenges to valuing damages, say analysts at Cornerstone Research.

• HHS Lab Test Rule's Likely Impact During And After COVID-19

  

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recent announcement rescinding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's premarket review requirement for laboratory-developed tests upends regulatory expectations for the clinical laboratory industry and raises questions regarding implementation during the pandemic and beyond, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Compliance Lessons From $1M HHS Fine For Data Breach

  

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently fined Lifespan Health over $1 million for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act breaches, showing that health care companies should take protective compliance measures, such as encrypting devices and utilizing business associate agreements, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

• Analyzing Upward And Downward Trends In Legal Tech

  

  Advances in legal technology are often accompanied by bombastic overstatements, but it is important to separate the wheat from the chaff by looking at where various technologies stand on the hype curve, says Lance Eliot at Stanford Law School.