Health Care Law Blog

• Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Opinion on Social Media: Accept or Deny? Deny

  Enclosure: [download]

  The Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee issued JEAC Opinion 2009-20 on November 19, 2009, indicating that judges may not add lawyers who may appear before the judge as "friends" on a social networking site, nor may judges permit such lawyers to add the judges as their "friend".
  
  [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2009, 10:37am EST
  

• HIPAA: Michigan Supreme Court Examing Preemption, Confidentiality and Ex Parte Interview of Treating Physicians in Medical Liability Litigation

  Enclosure: [download]

  The AMANews reports that the Michigan Supreme Court is examining whether the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) preempts state law to allow a defendant physician in a medical liability case to interview the plaintiff/patient's other treating physicians.
  
  The history and docket information on [...]
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  Posted: December 10, 2009, 9:54am EST
  

• WVHCA Report: $1.1B Cost Saving from Adoption of HIT

  iHealthBeat reports on the release of a new report prepared by CCRC Actuaries for the West Virginia Health Care Authority.
  
  The full report is available via the West Virginians for Affordable Health Care website and is titled, Health Care Financing in the State of [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2009, 1:01pm EST
  

• FTC Exploring Privacy: Rountable Series

  Enclosure: [download]

  Over the next couple of months the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be hosting the Exploring Privacy: A Roundtable Services.
  
  The roundtable discussions are day-long public roundtable discussions to explore the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 10:35am EST
  

• Chief Data Rights Officer

  I love the creative and mind opening nature of Twitter tweets. Simple 140 character thoughts, questions, queries, etc.
  
  As a lawyer who deals with pages, reams, volumes, boxes, rooms of written information on a daily basis I'm often amazed (and pleased) by the depth of concepts that can' [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 1:42pm EST
  

• 2009 Engage With Grace Thanksgiving Weekend Blog Rally

  Last year Paul Levy, Matthew Holt and Alexandra Drane asked me to participate in the Engage With Grace Thanksgiving Blog Rally. My post last year describes the Engage with Grace project and tells my personal story of why end of life care is important for [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:31am EST
  

• WVHIN Releases RFP for West Virginia Health Information Exchange

  Enclosure: [download]

  Today the West Virginia Health Information Network released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a statewide Health Information Exchange. More information, including the deadlines, bidder worksheets and a full copy of the RFP are available on the WVHIN website.
  
  Following are sections from the RFP that [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 2:19am EST
  

• ONC: Health IT Buzz

  
  
  
  
  
  The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has launched a second blog called the Health IT Buzz Blog.
  
  Just a few weeks ago ONC announced the new Federal Advisory Committee Blog (FACA Blog).
  [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:12pm EST
  

• AHLA: EHR, HIE and PHR Legal Liability Task Force

  Today I participated in the first call of the American Health Lawyers Association's Task Force on Electronic Health Records and Legal Liability.
  
  The task force will focus its efforts on the legal liabilities associated with Electronic Health Records (EHR), Health Information Exchanges (HIE) and Personal Health Records (PHR).[...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:11pm EST
  

• A 1930 Medical Record

  I was recently in my hometown of New Martinsville visiting my dad, a retired family physician. When I arrived he had waiting for me a copy of one of my grandfather's medical records from the 1930s. My grandfather, Dr. Albert Coffield, practiced rural medicine in Wetzel County,' [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:13pm EST
  

• Visualizing HR 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act

  Below is a visual of the top 500 words used in HR 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act. Since most people (including many of our representatives in Washington) haven't read all 1,990 pages of the Health Care Reform Bill, I thought a visual aid might be helpful.[...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 9:57am EST
  

• Federal Advisory Committee Blog (FACA Blog)

  Enclosure: [download]

  The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) has launched a new blog called the Federal Advisory Committee Blog (FACA Blog).
  
  The initial post by Judy Sparrow discusses that the FACA Blog will be uses in a spirit [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:08am EST
  

• West Virginia H1N1 (Swine) Flu Resource Center

  The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) unveiled a website for sharing information and updates specific to West Virginia about the H1N1 Flu also known as Swine Flu. The website has information for prevention, schools, businesses, parents and providers.
  
  The new West Virginia H1N1 [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:28am EST
  

• HIPAA Enforcement Meets HITECH: HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Enforcement Rule

  Enclosure: [download]

  On October 30, 2009, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Enforcement Interim Final Rule, 45 CFR Part 160 (74 Federal Register 56123, October 30, 2009).
  
  This new rule was developed and adopted by HHS to conform the enforcement [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 9:08am EST
  

• Congressional Members Concerned About HHS Inclusion of "Harm Standard" In Breach Notification Rule

  Enclosure: [download]

  Members of the U.S. House of Representative submitted an October 1, 2009 letter of concern to Secretary Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concerning inclusion of a "harm standard" in the recently released(August 24, 2009) Interim Final Rule - Breach Notification for Unsecured Protected [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 6:28pm EDT
  

• ARRA - HITECH: Health Care Information Breach Notification Regulations Now In Effect

  Enclosure: [download]

  Have you had a health data security breach? Do you know what a health data breach is? Are you required to notify individuals impacted by the breach? Do you have to notify federal agencies of such breach?
  
  Read on for more information regarding the Office for Civil Right [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 9:55am EDT
  

• Create WV Conference 2009: A personal invitation to attend . . .

  Over the last few years I have been involved in Create West Virginia, an organization affiliated with Vision Shared whose mission to create and stimulate new economy growth and empower West Virginians to grow creative communities in West Virginia. Communities centered on innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, education, quality of [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 6:52pm EDT
  

• West Virginia's StateWide Health Information Technology Strategic Plan

  Enclosure: [download]

  Over the past several months I have been involved with a group in developing West Virginia's statewide strategic plan for health information technology.
  
  The final draft of the West Virginia Health Information Technology Statewide Strategic Plan, September 2009 is now available for review and comment. Additional comments and' [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2009, 10:32am EDT
  

• Mandatory Reading Before President Obama's Speech Tonight On Health Care

  This morning I finally got around to reading the article by David Goldhill, CEO of the Game Show Network, in the Atlantic. How American Health Care Killed My Father is a thought provoking look at the failure of our current health care system.
  
  On the eve of [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2009, 9:23am EDT
  

• OCR Designates HIPAA Regional Office Privacy Advisors

  The Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director for the Office for Civil Rights, Robinsue Frohboese, has designated Office for Civil Rights Regional Managers in each of the HHS Regional Offices to serve as the Regional Office Privacy Advisors. On July 27, 2009, Secretary Sebelius authorized the Director of [...]
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  Posted: August 20, 2009, 11:12am EDT
  

• Health Care Reform Explained from Back of the Napkin Blog

  Enclosure: [download]

  Dan Roam at the Back of the Napkin Blog sums up the current health care reform effort in this four part health care series, Healthcare Napkins All. Great back of the napkin summary of health reform (actually insurance reform).
  
  Thanks to Jay Parkinson MD for the [...]
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  Posted: August 16, 2009, 9:43am EDT
  

• State Medicaid Fraud Control Units Annual Report FY 2008

  Enclosure: [download]

  The DHHS Office of Inspector General has issued the Fiscal Year 2008 State Medicaid Fraud Control Units Annual Report. The report covers FY 2008 (October 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008.
  
  The summary of the report provides background on the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) grant program, the [...]
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  Posted: August 10, 2009, 6:34pm EDT
  

• Viral Health Effort Via Twitter: Fit West Virginia (#FitWV)

  Dawn Miller of the Charleston Gazette highlights the ongoing Fit West Virginia (#FitWV) effort ongoing via Twitter in her op-ed piece, West Virginians try to tip scales on obesity.
  
  The idea was born back on West Virginia Day as a result of Jason Keeling asking his blog [...]
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  Posted: August 08, 2009, 9:09am EDT
  

• AHLA Public Interest Committee Publishes Stark Law White Paper

  Enclosure: [download]

  The American Health Lawyers Association's Public Interest Committee recently published a new white paper on on the federal self-referral law also known as the "Stark Law" which looks at and considers what, if any, changes to the Stark Law might be beneficial under the current health' [...]

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  Posted: August 07, 2009, 3:04pm EDT
  

• HIPAA Security Rule Enforcement Delegated to OCR

  Enclosure: [download]

  Today HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that enforcement of the Security Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) will be delegated to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
  
  The official delegation occurred on July 27, 2009. More information about [...]
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  Posted: August 03, 2009, 4:46pm EDT
  

• WV Medicaid Redesign Program: New Report Examines The Mountain Health Choices Program

  Enclosure: [download]

  A new report prepared by West Virginia University researchers examines the the Mountain Health Choices Program, one of the two redesigned West Virginia Medicaid plans to target improving the long-term health of West Virginia Medicaid beneficiaries through engaging beneficiaries to become more involved in their health care.
  [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 4:34pm EDT
  

• Technology: Then and Now

  The discussion about health care reform has been front and center lately. Along with the debate comes the discussion and questions about the role technology will (should) play in the reform efforts. I was reminded of a photo I found a few months ago while I was home visiting my [...]
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  Posted: July 26, 2009, 3:21pm EDT
  

• West Virginia Health Care Authority Revises Fee Schedule for Certificate of Need Program

  Enclosure: [download]

  On July 15, 2009, the West Virginia Health Care Authority filed with the West Virginia Secretary of State proposed amendments to the its procedural rule regarding the schedule of fees for the filing of certificate of need applications and exemption requests under the West Virginia Certificate of Need [...]
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  Posted: July 21, 2009, 6:34pm EDT
  

• TWiL Episode 26: Health Care and VRM

  Tomorrow I have the pleasure of being a guest on This Week in Law (TWiL) hosted by Denise Howell (@dhowell) Denise is one of the pioneers of law bloggers (blawgers) who blogs over at Bag and Baggage.
  
  TWiL Episode 26 will [...]
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  Posted: July 09, 2009, 5:15pm EDT
  

• WV Northern District Court: Attorney Filing Manual

  Enclosure: [download]

  Brian Peterson highlights a great resource for lawyers who regularly practice in the United States District Court for the Northern District Court of West Virginia.
  
  The Attorney Filing Manual is a 20 page manual that provides guidance to lawyers on how to e-file certain types of [...]
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  Posted: July 07, 2009, 11:55pm EDT
  

• AHLA Annual Meeting 2009: PHRs, Health 2.0 and the Impact of Social Media on Health Care

  Enclosure: [download]

  Today I am giving a presentation with Jud DeLoss on the topic of "PHRs, Health 2.0 and the Impact of Social Media on Health Care" at the American Health Lawyers Association 2009 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
  
  As a part of the presentation we are sharing the [...]
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  Posted: July 01, 2009, 1:48am EDT
  

• Support the Declaration of Health Data Rights: #MyHealthData

  The Declaration of Health Data Rights collaborative effort was announced this week by setting forth a simple, straightforward framework for health consumers right to their personal health information.
  
  The social media driven initiative has grown support throughout the week. The effort is being endorsed and supported by a [...]
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  Posted: June 26, 2009, 3:57am EDT
  

• Proposed Certificate of Need Rule: Hospital Ambulatory Health Care Facility

  Enclosure: [download]

  On June 8, 2009, the West Virginia Health Care Authority filed a proposed legislative rule with the Secretary of State and Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee titled Hospital Ambulatory Health Care Facilities. CSR 65-27. The official notice can be found in the June 12, 2009 issue [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2009, 2:55pm EDT
  

• West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board Issues Legal Ethics Opinion on Metadata

  Enclosure: [download]

  On June 10, 2009, the West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board issued Legal Ethics Opinion 2009-01 (What is Metadata and Why Should Lawyers Be Cautious?) to raise awareness among lawyers to be cautious when dealing with metadata. The opinion describes "metadata" as the data behind the data - including the [...]
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  Posted: June 16, 2009, 10:04am EDT
  

• Microsoft HealthVault: You put your right HIPAA in . . .

  Enclosure: [download]

  In a post today, Sean Nolan, Chief Architect of Microsoft Health Solutions and blogger at Family Health Guy explains Microsoft's position regarding whether Microsoft HealthVault is required to comply with the privacy standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
  
  The blog' [...]
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  Posted: June 03, 2009, 12:57pm EDT
  

• PHRs, The Model T, Meaningful Use and the Patient-Centric HIT Revolution

  There is a growing discussion on the health consumer-centric (patient-centric) meaning of "meaningful use" of EHRs and health information technology. Jane Sarasohn-Kahn summarizes this discussion in her recent post, "Meaningful USe - or, whose health is it, anyway?" at Health Populi where she reflects on Ted Eytan's post,' [...]
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  Posted: June 01, 2009, 9:38am EDT
  

• Ted Eytan, MD's Photo Friday

  Thanks to Ted Eytan, MD for featuring Jane Sarasohn-Kahn and me as the "Photo Friday" models of the week. The photo was taken at the start of our testimony before NCVHS on the future of PHRs.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: May 28, 2009, 6:11pm EDT
  

• NCVHS: Report of Hearing on "Meaninful Use" of Health Information Technology

  Enclosure: [download]

  The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) has issued its initial Report of Hearing on "Meaningful Use" of Health Information Technology.
  
  The May 18,2009 report is directed to David Blumenthal, MD, National Coordinator of Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The [...]
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  Posted: May 28, 2009, 4:18am EDT
  

• ONC Developing Online Project To Educate Consumers About PHRs

  Enclosure: [download]

  Government Health IT reports that the the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is developing an online model containing information for consumers about personal health records (PHRs) and the privacy policies related to their use. ONC's effort appears targeted at engaging consumer to make more informed decisions about the' [...]
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  Posted: May 26, 2009, 4:46pm EDT
  

• XPRIZE: $10M Incentive to Innovate In Health Care (Reform)

  Scott Shreeve, MD, Senior Health Advisor at the X PRIZE Foundation sent out a call last week to all health care bloggers to participate in a blog rally to promote the idea and effort behind the Healthcare X PRIZE competition. Below is a message from Dr. Sheeve [...]
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  Posted: May 26, 2009, 9:24am EDT
  

• Modern Day Hatfield-McCoy: Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault

  The Hatfields and McCoys, a metaphor for a modern day high-tech industry rivalry centered on personal health records (PHRs) involving Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault and other PHR vendors. An image that a West Virginia health care lawyer can really appreciate.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: May 19, 2009, 12:59pm EDT
  

• ONC Releases HIT ARRA Implementation Plan

  Enclosure: [download]

  The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released an operating plan titled the Health Information Technology American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Implementation Plan.
  
  The operating plan is included on the DHHS Agency Wide Plan page under the "List of" [...]
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  Posted: May 18, 2009, 5:36pm EDT
  

• Blog World New Media Expo 2009: Medical and Health Care Bloggers

  Today I received the speaker list for the MedBlogger Conference associated with Blog World New Media Expo 2009 from Kim McCallister of Emergiblog, co-organizer of the event along with Dr. Val of Better Health.
  
  Blog World New Media Expo 2009 will be [...]
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  Posted: May 09, 2009, 9:11pm EDT
  

• Virginia Department of Health Professions Issues Statement on Potential Breach of Security for Prescription Monitoring Program

  Enclosure: [download]

  Virginia Department of Health Professions has issued a News Release regarding the potential breach of security for the Prescription Monitoring Program. The statement also indicates that there is an ongoing criminal investigation into the breach which occurred on April 30.
  
  Also, the Virginia Department of Health Professions [...]
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  Posted: May 07, 2009, 3:18pm EDT
  

• Update On HIT Policy and Standards Committees

  Enclosure: [download]

  Last week the Federal Register (April 29, 2009) contained a Notification of the Establishment of the HIT Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee. I had previously posted about the creation of these committee and recommended suggested members.
  
  More information will be made available via the [...]
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  Posted: May 06, 2009, 10:19am EDT
  

• Health 2.0 Boston: Tweet Stream Analysis

  Enclosure: [download]

  Chris Hogg does a great job of capturing the metrics of the Twitter discussion that occurred during the recent Health 2.0 Boston conference. Check out his slide show analysis of the Tweet Stream from the conference.
  Health 2.0 Tweet Stream AnalysisView [...]
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  Posted: May 06, 2009, 9:40am EDT
  

• Virginia Department of Health Professionals Breach: Extortion Demand Regarding 8M Patient Records and 35M Prescriptions

  Information Week is covering a story involving an extortion letter sent last week to the Virginia Department of Health Professions seeking $10M to return more than 8M patient records and 35M prescriptions allegedly stolen from the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
  
  The extortion demand was posted on [...]
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  Posted: May 05, 2009, 10:33am EDT
  

• Google Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico

  Google Flu Trends have launched an Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico as a result of the ongoing concern over the current swine flue outbreak. The experimental model for Mexico shows estimates on possible flu activity in the various states in Mexico. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2009, 1:53pm EDT
  

• AHLA Teleconference: HIPAA Privacy Fundamentals

  Next month I will be co-presenting on an American Health Lawyer Association Teleconference on the topic of HIPAA Privacy Regulation Fundamentals - An Introductory Course.
  
  The teleconference is scheduled for May 13, 2009, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST. My co-presenter is Rebecca [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 12:43pm EDT
  

• WV Senator Rockefeller: The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009

  Yesterday West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller introduced "The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009"(Senate Bill 890) to facilitate the nationwide adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) though an "open source" public utility model.
  
  A copy of Senate Bill 890 is available on Thomas [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 8:54am EDT