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Health Law

Health Care Law Blog

Comments and Thoughts on Health Care Legal Issues, HIPAA Privacy & Security, Technology and Other Legal Odds and Ends that Impact West Virginia.
By Bob Coffield

Post Frequency: 2.4/day

Last Entry: April 27, 2020 at 10:14:36

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

Posted on May 26, 2009
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...

ONC Developing Online Project To Educate Consumers About PHRs

Posted on May 26, 2009
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 use of PHRs...

Modern Day Hatfield-McCoy: Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault

Posted on May 19, 2009
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...

ONC Releases HIT ARRA Implementation Plan

Posted on May 18, 2009
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 Recovery Programs within HHS...

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

Posted on May 09, 2009
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 help October 15-17 in Las Vegas...

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

Posted on May 07, 2009
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...

Update On HIT Policy and Standards Committees

Posted on May 06, 2009
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 "new" Health Information Technology website of the Office of the National Coordinator...

Health 2.0 Boston: Tweet Stream Analysis

Posted on May 06, 2009
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 more presentations from Chris Hogg...

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

Posted on May 05, 2009
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...

Google Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico

Posted on April 29, 2009
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 data to estimate possible flu activity in near real-time...

AHLA Teleconference: HIPAA Privacy Fundamentals

Posted on April 24, 2009
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 L...

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

Posted on April 24, 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...

Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Under Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986

Posted on April 21, 2009
Congratulations to my partners, Rick Jones and David Givens for successfully defending Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the matter of Wahi v. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc., et al...

The Economist: Health 2.0 How far can interactive digital medicine go?

Posted on April 21, 2009
The Economist looks in on Health 2.0 in the article, Health 2.0: How far can interactive digital medicine go?Highlights for me:Quote by Neil Seeman who thinks Health 2.0 is important "because it reinvents how we identify opinion leaders and exploit disruptive innovation...

Microsoft and Mayo Clinic Collaboration: Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Posted on April 21, 2009
Today Microsoft Corporation and Mayo Clinic announced a new consumer online health service called Mayo Clinic Health Manager, build on the HealthVault platform.The press release states that Mayo Clinic Health Manager provides individuals "a place to store medical information and receive real-time individualized health guidance and recommendations based on the clinical expertise of Mayo Clinic ...

HITECH Act Breach Notification Guidance: What Renders PHI Unusable, Unreadable or Indecipherable For Purposes of Breach Notification?

Posted on April 19, 2009
On April 17, 2009, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued guidance on the technology requirements to render protected health information (PHI) "unusable, unreadable or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals, as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) which is a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)...

FTC Proposed Health Breach Notification Rule for PHRs and Electronic Health Information

Posted on April 17, 2009
Yesterday, April 16, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission released its proposed Health Breach Notification Rule for Vendors of Personal Health Records (PHRs) and Electronic Health Information.The official title of the proposed rule is: 16. C.F.R. Part 318: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Public Comments Concerning Proposed Health Breach Notification Rule, Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...

Neurology Today: When Moving Records and Practices, Know Your Legal Obligations.

Posted on April 14, 2009
I was interviewed for an article appearing in the March 19 2009, edition of Neurology Today. The article, When Moving Records and Practices, Know Your Legal Obligations (pdf version), was written by Elizabeth Stump and discusses the current legal requirements and recommendations regarding medical record retention, release of information, storage and requirements for notification of patients when a physician leaves a practice.

2009 Legislative Changes to WV Certificate of Need Law

Posted on April 12, 2009
On April 9, 2009, the West Virginia Legislature sent Senate Bill 321 to Governor Manchin for signature (see strikethru/underline Committee Substitute version). Senate Bill 321 makes substantive changes to the current certificate of need law in West Virginia overseen by the West Virginia Health Care Authority...

WV Music Law Blog: DIY Music Mogul

Posted on April 10, 2009
A welcome to another West Virginia lawyer blogger, Kevin Levine, who is blogging now at DIY Music Mogul. His blog is dedicated to assisting entrepreneurial musical artists and songwriters with timely and relevant information about music law and business...

Obama Signs Executive Order Officially Creating White House Office of Health Reform

Posted on April 09, 2009
Yesterday, April 8, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order formally creating a new White House Office of Health Reform.The Washington Post provide additional information, including the complete text of the Executive Order and that former Clinton administration official, Nancy-Ann DeParle (White House bio) will oversee the office...

OIG Issues Modified Position on Stark Self Disclosure Protocol

Posted on March 25, 2009
Yesterday the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued an Open Letter to Health Care Providers making several changes to the Self-Dislcosure Protocol relating to the physician self referral law or Stark Law.The OIG indicates in the letter that they are no longer going to accept under the self disclosure protocol pure Stark related liability issues...

David Blumenthal, MD Named New National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Posted on March 20, 2009
Various news sources report today that David Blumenthal, MD, former Harvard Medical School professor, has been selected by the Obama administration to lead the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). HHS press release provides additional detail on Dr...

Best Lawyers' 2009 West Virginia Personal Injury Litigator of the Year

Posted on March 19, 2009
Congratulations to my partner, Tom Flaherty, who was selected as Best Lawyers' 2009 West Virginia Litigator of the Year. A well deserved honor.Tom is a straightforward and hardworking defense litigator who does an incredible job representing the best interests of his clients...

Charleston FestivALL 2009: A City Becomes A Work Of Art

Posted on March 17, 2009
The preliminary lineup of events for Charleston FestivALL 2009 was announced today. Ten days of music, art, theater, entertainment, creativity and fun bring the city of Charleston alive from June 19 - 27, 2009. Where the city become a work of art!As many of my friends, colleagues and regular readers know I love the Charleston FestivALL (my past posts) and am already excited about this years expanded ten day event...

ARRA Timeline

Posted on March 16, 2009
John Halamka at Life as a Healthcare CIO provides a good overview of the timeline and deadlines for the health information technology portions under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

Hospitals: The State of Social Media Use

Posted on March 16, 2009
Ed Bennett at Found In Cache does a wonderful job of giving us a statistical glimpse of the increasing (skyrocketing) use of social media tools (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter) by hospitals across the country.His post, "Hospital Socia Media Stats," gives some interesting statistics into the adoption and growth of social media...

Health Affairs: Take Two Aspirin and Tweet Me . . .

Posted on March 15, 2009
The March/April 2009 Issue of Health Affairs concentrates on the topic of Stimulating Health Information Technology. Although I am not a subscriber to Health Affairs the issue looks to have some great articles on health information technology and the current changes in the field...

EvriChart: A West Virginia based health information technology company

Posted on March 15, 2009
Today's Charleston Gazette features an article by Eric Eyre on a health information technology company located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. EvriChart relocated to West Virginia four years ago and focuses its business on managing health information for hospitals, physicians and other health care providers...

Nominees for HITECH HIT Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee

Posted on March 13, 2009
The Thursday, March 13 Federal Register (74 Fed Reg 10743) contained a notice for submitting nominees to the new committees created under ARRA-HITECH (stimulus bill) for developing health information technology standards and policy. The two commitees will be called the HIT Standards Commitee and HIT Policy Commitee...

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