Digital Health & Technology

Expert Analysis

• 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.

• Telehealth Providers Should Beware ADA Litigation

  

  Health providers making the transition to remote care should furnish communication aid and necessary accommodation for individuals with disabilities, or else plaintiffs may assert claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, say Frank Morris and Shira Blank at Epstein Becker.

• Prepare For DOJ's Pandemic-Related Enforcement Priorities

  

  Although the U.S. Department of Justice recently said False Claims Act enforcement around coronavirus relief funds won't target good faith actions, companies should proactively monitor regulatory changes and ensure compliance documentation because convincing the government of one's honest intentions can be an uphill battle, say attorneys at Akin Gump.

• 5 Compliance Lessons From Novartis' FCPA Settlement

  

  Novartis' parallel settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve criminal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act allegations emphasize risk points for life sciences companies, especially for repeat offenders, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

• How Health Info Interoperability Rule Affects Providers

  

  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' new rule implementing interoperability requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act creates new compliance challenges for health care providers and will ultimately require investments in information technology, say Elizabeth Hein and Cynthia Haines at Post & Schell.

• COVID-19 Telehealth Boom Demands Better Privacy Practices

  

  With demand for telemedicine skyrocketing during the pandemic, health care providers should not be lulled into complacency regarding data privacy simply because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has relaxed its standards, as pre-pandemic practices may be inadequate, says Geoffrey Lottenberg at Berger Singerman.

• What COVID-19 Means For The Future Of Health Mergers

  

  Health industry sectors, including hospitals and physician organizations, are likely to see growth in consolidation activity as a result of COVID-19, but remote deal-making and other challenges will increase the difficulty of finalizing deals, says Larry Gage at Alston & Bird.