Recently, several new privacy laws that will affect our business have been implemented. One is from the European Union (“EU”) and the other, from California, is modeled on the EU law. 

Federal and state lawmakers and regulators are pushing to keep up with the legal framework of using adopting digital health as part of care coordination and the move to value-based payment in health care. Such efforts are resulting in coverage of telehealth and virtual care services.  

As both an attorney and a nurse, I am honored to work with such a group of dedicated individuals at URAC whose collective goal is the improvement of quality in the healthcare industry. URAC’s Accreditation and Certification Programs, whether a Specialty Pharmacy Accreditation or a Telehealth Accreditation, strive not only to improve quality in healthcare but also to protect the consumer who is on the receiving end of the healthcare delivery. Our goal is to be a leader in healthcare accreditation and to improve consumer protection. URAC’s Legal and Compliance Department strives to aid each and every employee at URAC in attaining the goal of consumer protection. 

Last month, I addressed The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)’s Privacy Rule. In addition to the Privacy Rule, Congress mandated through HIPAA that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) publish regulations --The Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information (the Security Rule)  which establishes a national set of security standards for protecting certain health information that is held or transferred in electronic form.