General Interest Archives - Page 7 of 21

General Interest

Digital Health Solutions are Key to Success under Health Care Payment Innovations

by McDermott Will & Emery, Bernadette M. Broccolo and Lisa Mazur | Dec 20, 2016 | General Interest, Mobile Apps, Telehealth

Digital health—the intersection of health care related software applications, analytical tools, medical device technology and electronic data assets that are enabled and achieved through the use of the internet and hand-held devices—is empowering the innovation needed to meet the imperative for a transition from payment based on volume to payment based on value that is evaluated in terms of measurable improvements in care delivery and population health.

ODI post 2

One prominent example is the use of digital health solutions to implement the payment innovation contemplated by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (known as MACRA)—which directly ties both payment increases and reductions to various, specific efficiency and value measures. The Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), one of the two available payment pathways under MACRA, assigns points to clinicians in different performance categories, several of which promote the adoption of digital health solutions. To illustrate:

The Quality category requires six measures to be reported, many of which may be leveraged through the use of digital health tools. For example, the Maternity Care: Post-Partum Follow-Up and Care Coordination measure tracks the percentage of patients who were seen for post-partum care within eight weeks of giving birth who received particular evaluations, screening and education. Obstetricians, gynecologists and family medicine practitioners could earn points under this measure by using telemedicine technologies, like videoconferencing platform, to engage in virtual patient visits with post-partum patients to answer the patient’s questions, provide education on the recovery process and assess the patient’s physical and mental health status, including the performance of mandatory post-partum depression screenings.
The Advancing Care Information category requires the use of certified electronic health record technology to coordinate care through patient engagement (g., secure messaging). The implementation of patient portals with integrated messaging platforms facilitate communication between the patient and health care practitioner, providing additional functionalities like sending reminders, engaging in dialogue about follow-up care, encouraging preventative action and distributing educational materials. These portals typically also give the patient access to timely and informative data, like test results, that allow the patient to play a role in decision making and (hopefully) empower the well-informed consumption of care.
The Clinical Practice Improvement category is perhaps the best opportunity for digital health integration. Activities that improve beneficiary engagement, population management, expanded practice access and care coordination—among others—are assigned points and weighted. Here, mobile apps have the capability to enable e-visits via videoconference as an alternative method to an in-person visit; facilitate questionnaire reporting; and send reminders, materials and other notifications to alert and educate patients about services due. The apps also provide opportunities to generally inform the delivery of care for the specific patient by sending alerts to providers to indicate that it’s time for a visit or that a problematic symptom was noted on a questionnaire. Further, clinical practices could leverage app-sourced data to gain information about patient trends, clinical areas of concern or successes related to digital health tool utilization.

For [...]

Continue Reading

Digital Health’s Perfect Storm of Regulators

by McDermott Will & Emery, Bernadette M. Broccolo and Lisa Mazur | Dec 19, 2016 | General Interest, Telehealth

Both developers and users of digital health solutions face both immense opportunities and daunting challenges. One key challenge is compliance with the often complex state and federal laws and regulations adopted by the numerous regulatory bodies responsible for overseeing different aspects of digital health. The following illustration identifies the numerous regulatory bodies that have been increasingly focused on the use of technology in healthcare and are expected to continue their focus and enforcement activities in the coming years.

ODI blog

Because innovation is moving faster than the law in this area, in-house counsel and compliance officers must be prepared to identify and manage the myriad compliance and liability risk considerations arising from participation in and use of digital health tools. This will require an understanding of how each of these regulatory bodies oversees and regulates digital health today and close monitoring of how that evolves and changes in the future.

Health care providers, patients and consumers should approach the selection and use of digital health advancements with a reasonable degree of caution. As AMA CEO James L. Madara, MD, advised in his address at the recently concluded 2016 AMA Annual Meeting, “…. Appearing in disguise among these positive products are other digital so-called advancements that do not have an appropriate evidence base … or that just do not work well or that actually impede care, confuse patients and waste our time … from ineffective electronic health records to an explosion of direct-to-consumer digital health products to apps, some of which are of poor quality.” In this regard, providers would be well served by performing sufficient “due diligence” to determine whether the functionality of the digital health tool effectively meets their specific clinical and operational needs, as well as the needs of their patients, and to evaluate the developer’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Bipartisan Legislation Proposes Telehealth Solutions for Effective Chronic Disease Management

by Dale C. Van Demark, Lisa Mazur and Marshall E. Jackson, Jr. | Nov 28, 2016 | General Interest, Telehealth

Collaborative efforts between congressional offices and various health care stakeholders, as well as the feedback provided in response to the Bipartisan CHRONIC Care Working Group Policy Options Document released in December of 2015, have driven the Senate Finance Committee to introduce a draft of bipartisan legislation known as the CHRONIC Care Act, which seeks to modernize Medicare payment policies to improve the management and treatment of chronic diseases using telehealth.

Read the full article.

ECJ Confirms Dynamic IP Address May Constitute Personal Data But Can Be Logged to Combat Cyberattacks

by Amy C. Pimentel and Dr. Claus Färber | Oct 31, 2016 | Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Data Transfers/Safe Harbor/Privacy Shield, General Interest

On 19 October 2016, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held (Case C-582/14 – Breyer v Federal Republic of Germany) that dynamic IP addresses may constitute personal data. The ECJ also held that a website operator may collect and process IP addresses for the purpose of protecting itself against cyberattacks, because in the view of the Court, preventing cyberattacks may be a legitimate interest of a website operator in its effort to continue the operability of its website.

The ECJ’s ruling was based on two questions referred to it by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH). In the underlying German proceedings, a member of the German Pirate Party challenged the German Federal Government’s logging and subsequent use of his dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) address when visiting their websites. While the government is a public authority, the case was argued on the basis of German provisions that address both public and private website operators, and is therefore directly relevant for commercial companies.

(more…)

Commercial Insurers Urge Congressional Budget Office to Consider their Telemedicine Data

by Lisa Mazur | Oct 28, 2016 | General Interest, Telehealth

In hopes of expanding reimbursement opportunities for telemedicine services in the Medicare program, representatives of eleven payers, including Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Cambia Health Solutions and Humana, asked CBO director Keith Hall in a public letter to consider their data when evaluating the impact of Medicare coverage of telemedicine services.

Medicare reimbursement for telemedicine is currently limited to very narrow set of circumstances. Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act provides that telehealth services are covered only if the Medicare patient is seen: (a) at an approved “originating site” (e.g., physician offices, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities) that is located within a rural Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) that is either outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or in a rural census tract, or a county outside of a MSA; (b) by an approved provider (e.g., physicians, nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists); (c) for a defined set of services, including consultations, office visits, pharmacological management, and individual and group diabetes self-management training services; and (d) using certain telecommunications technologies.

There are bipartisan efforts currently underway to expand Medicare reimbursement for telemedicine services by easing or eliminating some of these requirements. One example is the CONNECT for Health Act. Because coverage of telemedicine services in Medicare’s fee-for-service program is limited, there is limited Medicare data available for the CBO to consider when reviewing the potential financial impact of such legislation. In light of this lack of data, the insurers advise that the CBO should consider the effects that telemedicine’s expansion in the commercial market. The insurers’ letter to the CBO also points out that new alternative, quality-based payment models rely upon telemedicine as a means of meeting certain performance measures, and other government agencies, such as the US Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration, are using telemedicine services to provide better quality care.

Earlier this year, the CBO and MedPAC received a letter from over 20 different health care providers similarly urging it to consider alternative data sources, such as data from the commercial sector, when analyzing the costs and benefits associated with the use of telemedicine in the Medicare program.

OCR Explains How Information Blocking Violates HIPAA

by Amanda Enyeart, Edward G. Zacharias, Daniel F. Gottlieb and Ryan S. Higgins | Oct 27, 2016 | Cloud, Consumer Protection, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, General Interest

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently posted guidance (OCR guidance) clarifying that a business associate such as an information technology vendor generally may not block or terminate access by a covered entity customer to protected health information (PHI) maintained by the vendor on behalf of the customer. Such “information blocking” could occur, for example, during a contract dispute in which a vendor terminates customer access or activates a “kill switch” that renders an information system containing PHI inaccessible to the customer. Many information vendors have historically taken such an approach to commercial disputes.

Read full article here.

FTC Weighs-in on Telehealth, Comments on Delaware’s Occupational Therapy Practice Rule

by McDermott Will & Emery, Ashley Fischer, Lisa Mazur and Marshall E. Jackson, Jr. | Sep 15, 2016 | General Interest, Mobile Apps, Telehealth

On August 3, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff submitted public comments regarding the Delaware Board of Occupational Therapy Practice’s proposed regulation for the provision of occupational therapy services via telehealth in Delaware (the Proposed Regulation). The FTC’s comments to the Proposed Regulation follow its comments to Alaska’s telehealth legislation earlier this year and evidence its continued focus on telehealth’s ability to foster flexibility in health care delivery by increasing practitioner supply; encouraging competition; and improving access to affordable, quality health care.

By way of background, in 2015, Delaware amended its Insurance and Professions and Occupations Code (the Code) to include the regulation of telehealth and telemedicine services, including the delivery of occupational care remotely under existing, in-person standards of care. Consistent with the Code, the Delaware Board of Occupational Therapy Practice (the Board) revised its rules and regulations to address telehealth services. The Proposed Regulation defines telehealth as “the use of electronic communications to provide and deliver a host of health-related information and health care services, including occupational therapy related information and services, over electronic devices. Telehealth encompasses a variety of occupational therapy promotion activities, including consultation, education, reminders, interventions, and monitoring of interventions.”

The Proposed Regulation gives Occupational Therapist and Occupational Therapist Assistant licensees’ (Licensees) discretion in assessing and determining the appropriate level and type of care for an individual patient, provided that certain requirements are satisfied. Specifically, under the Proposed Regulation, Licensees that provide treatment through telehealth must have an active Delaware license in good standing to practice telehealth in the state of Delaware. In addition to obtaining informed consent and complying with confidentiality requirements, the licensee must also: (1) be responsible for determining and documenting that telehealth is an appropriate level of care for the patient; (2) comply with the Board’s rules and regulations and all current standards of care requirements applicable to onsite care; (3) limit the practice of telehealth to the area of competence in which proficiency has been gained through education, training and experience; (4) determine the need for the physical presence of an occupational therapy practitioner during any interactions with patients, if he/she is the Occupational Therapist who screens, evaluates, writes or implements the plan of care; (5) determine the amount and level of supervision needed during the telehealth encounter; and (6) document in the file or record which services were provided remotely. (24 Del. Admin. Code § 2000-4.2.)

Staff of the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning and its Bureaus of Competition and Economics, responding to the Board’s request for public comments, stated that by not imposing rigid and unwarranted in-person care and supervision requirements, the Proposed Regulation could have various positive impacts, including: (1) improving access to cost-effective, quality care, especially for patients with limited mobility; (2) reducing Medicaid’s transportation expenditures as well as individuals’ pecuniary and time costs; (3) addressing anticipated workforce shortages in the health care sector by increasing practitioner supply and facilitating care of an aging population; and (4) enhancing competition, consumer choice and access to [...]

Continue Reading

Augmented Reality

by Lynne Boisineau | Aug 25, 2016 | Cloud, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, General Interest, Mobile Apps, Social Media

If you haven’t heard about newest gaming craze yet, it’s based on what is called “augmented reality” (AR) and it could potentially impinge on your home life and workplace as such games allow users to “photograph” imaginary items overlaid with objects existing in the real world. An augmented reality game differs from “virtual reality” in that it mixes elements of the real world with avatars, made up creatures, fanciful landscapes and the like, rather than simply presenting a completely fictional scenario. Whether you play such games yourself or are merely existing in nearby surroundings, here are few things to think about as an active participant, and some tips regarding Intellectual Property and confidentiality issues that arise from others playing the game around you.

Augmented reality games are typically played on a smartphone app and some of them allow the user to capture images of the player’s experience and post it on social media, text it to friends or maintain it on the phone’s camera roll. However, special glasses could be used or other vehicles could deliver the augmented reality experience in different contexts—not just gaming. For example, technology in this area is rapidly advancing which will allow users to link up and “experience” things together way beyond what exists in the real world, i.e., in a “mixed world” experience, if you will. These joint holographic experiences are just one facet of the direction that augmented reality is taking.

As always, with new technological advancements, there are some caveats to using AR that you should be aware of.

Trademarks

If a company’s trademark is visible in the photo of your AR experience, you need to be mindful that you do not run afoul of trademark laws. For the same reasons that some trademarks are blurred out on TV shows, you should not be publishing such photos in any fashion that might draw negative attention from the trademark owner on social media accounts. Even if you are not selling competing goods, you could potentially be liable for trademark infringement. There is another, more important reason not to post such photos that is discussed below and can lead to a second cause of action against you arising from the same photo—the right of publicity, which is a personal right and is treated in vastly different ways in each state.

Right of Publicity

The Right of Publicity (ROP) protects everyone from misappropriation of his/her name, likeness, voice, image or other recognizable element of personal identity. It is protected by state law and many states vary greatly in their treatment of ROP. For example, some states protect a person’s ROP post-mortem, whereas others have no protection whatsoever. Due to the ease with which still or moving images can be reproduced and posted on the Internet, it is critical that you consider your postings from a ROP standpoint before you upload that image to a social media account. For instance, if your photo features your best friend taken in a shared AR experience, she may not object [...]

Continue Reading

Guidance on Low Risk General Wellness Devices Is Finalized

by McDermott Will & Emery, Michael W. Ryan and Vernessa T. Pollard | Aug 4, 2016 | Consumer Protection, General Interest, Mobile Apps, Telehealth

On July 29, 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized General Wellness: Policy for Low Risk Devices Guidance (Final Guidance) detailing its risk-based regulatory approach to relax certain regulatory requirements for low risk products that promote a healthy lifestyle—coined “general wellness products.” In the Final Guidance, the FDA makes minimal substantive changes to the policies articulated in its January 2015 draft guidance. Notably, however, the Final Guidance added and refined several examples to illustrate the products that are subject to FDA’s enforcement discretion and ultimately outside FDA’s intended scope of regulatory oversight.

Read the full article, FDA Finalizes Guidance on Low Risk General Wellness Devices here.

Brexit Update: The Effect of Brexit on Data Transfers between the United Kingdom and the European Union

by Dr. Claus Färber | Jul 21, 2016 | Data Privacy, Data Transfers/Safe Harbor/Privacy Shield, General Interest

With the United Kingdom having voted to leave the European Union (Brexit) on 23 June 2016, the free flow of personal data between the United Kingdom and EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries is at risk. Even though Brexit will likely have the biggest impact on the financial sector, businesses in the United Kingdom that rely on the free flow of personal data to and from EU nations will also be affected. In particular, should the United Kingdom also leave the EEA and thus become a “third country” for the purposes of data protection laws, transfers to data processors in the United Kingdom would have to be based on an adequacy decision of the European Commission, standard contractual clauses (model contracts) or binding corporate rules.

Read the full article here.