The original article to this executive summary is featured in Bloomberg Law.
Executive Summary
Mobile health apps – and the entities that develop these apps – can be subject to a complex web of federal and state laws. To make matters even more complex, seemingly similar technologies may be subject to very different legal requirements depending on the type of data transmitted, the technology involved and the respective roles of the applicable parties. For example, access to apps provided by healthcare organizations directly to their patients would likely be subject to HIPAA, but access to that same app might not be subject to HIPAA if the individual downloaded the app directly from Google or IoS . . . and this in turn might be subject to a variety of other regulatory laws. Apps can take a wide range of forms, ranging from apps that simply transmit records to a healthcare provider to those that track biometric data from wearables to apps providing GPS location for drones to deliver needed medications.
How can practitioners begin to navigate this complex area of law? Practus Partner Janet V. Hallahan has recently updated the Bloomberg Law Overview of Federal Laws and Regulations Applicable to Mobile Health Apps to help practitioners chart their way through the privacy and cybersecurity laws that may apply to their client’s mobile health apps. The Overview also provides directional signals to other potentially applicable laws, such as healthcare fraud and abuse laws or general marketing laws, and also includes cross references to other relevant Bloomberg Law content.
