From Telemedicine Everywhere to Telemedicine Anywhere: Legal & Regulatory Issues

American Telemedicine Association President-Elect Ed Brown, M.D., founder and CEO of the Ontario Telemedicine Network, coined this phrase at the American Telemedicine Association annual meeting.

Bloggers must take care to not provide clinical health advice

Attorney Michael H. Cohen was quoted in The Tan Sheet (2/25/13) in "Turning Blogger Relationships Into Gold Takes Careful Management," by Lisa Gillepsie

Wellness Programs Under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and Related Federal Laws

Does health care reform discuss wellness and prevention?Yes, among other things, the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) provides incentives for individuals to focus on wellness.

Concierge Medicine v. Direct Primary Care: Legal Issues

Concierge medicine and direct primary care both raise legal issues, though they present different models in terms of how they handle insurance.

Telemedicine legal definitions and informed consent requirements vary by state

Telemedicine legal and regulatory issues are complicated by the fact that there are numerous legal definitions of telemedicine.

FDA issues warning letter to dietary supplement company for including cancer or diabetes in search field

The FDA issued a warning letter citing a dietary supplement company for its online content.In its warning letter to dietary supplement manufacturer M.D.R. Fitness Corp., the FDA warned that [...]

Affordable Care Act creates scope of practice legislative scramble for healthcare practitioners

Healthcare reform is creating incentives for even more legislative scrambles by different practitioner lobbying groups for favorable legislation that will protect, preserve, and expand their own [...]

FTC settles charges based on mobile device data breach

The FTC put out a press release on a settlement regarding data breaches on mobile smartphones and cellphones.

HIPAA Omnibus Rule: Part 8 (Breach Analysis)

The HIPAA Omnibus rule makes a number of additional important changes to breach analysis in case of a breach of unsecured PHI.

HIPAA Omnibus Rule: Part 5 (Privacy Rule Changes)

The HIPAA / HITECH Privacy Rule has been changed.Under the Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules under the Health Information Technology for [...]

HIPAA Omnibus Rule: Part 4 (Security Rule Changes)

The Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and the Genetic [...]

HIPAA Omnibus Rule: Part 3 (Enforcement & Penalties)

The Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and the Genetic [...]

FTC Blasts POM for Disease Claims, Highlighting Substantation Issues

The FTC blasted POM Wonderful for making deceptive and unsupported advertising claims regarding their pomegranate products.

California Publishes Mobile Ecosystem Privacy Legal Recommendations

California Attorney General has released Privacy On the Go: Recommendations for the Mobile Ecosystem

HIPAA Breach Settlement by HHS Involves Less than 500 Patients

The Hospice of Northern Idaho (HONI) has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $50,000 to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and [...]

New HHS Rule Protects Patient Privacy Under HIPAA and HITECH

Much-anticipated regulation protects patient privacy under HIPAA and HITECH

Is it fee-splitting to share profits in an acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathic, or MD physician group?

An acupuncture student from Northern California wrote in asking the following question about fee-splitting, kickbacks, Stark / self-referral, and group practices.

Physician Sale of Dietary Supplements – Legal and Regulatory Restrictions

Some states restrict the markup a physician can have on sales of dietary supplements. For example, New Jersey law has some relevant law.

FTC Statement to Congress on Deceptive Marketing of Dietary Supplements

The FTC Statement to Congress on Deceptive Marketing of Dietary Supplements is a good place to begin to understand legal compliance issues regarding marketing

Weight Loss Advertisements Found Deceptive and Misleading – Conspiracy and Healthcare Fraud Violations

The 1-800-GET-THIN ad campaign is embroiled in a criminal investigation for healthcare fraud and other violationsThe FDA and FBI are investigating.

Proposed legislation for mobile applications would change telemedicine legal landscape

Telemedicine laws will change if the U.S. Congress enacts the “Healthcare Innovation and Marketplace Technologies Act” (“HIMTA”), a bill which seeks to establish the “Office of Mobile Health” [...]

California medical board regulates medical volunteers who are licensed in other states

California is an early adopter once again, this time with respect to regulating medical volunteers.

Medical researchers grow spare parts from stem cells inside the body

Medical researchers are growing spare parts from stem cells inside the human body.Another practice, called bioprinting, builds body parts much like an inkjet printer:

California Chiropractic Board Adopts New Regulations for the Use of Laser in Chiropractic

The Board of Chiropractic Examiners in California has adopted new regulations for the use of lasers in chiropractic

Healing Methods 101 – Pet Therapy

Now I've heard it all - two dogs in a pet therapy program with hi-tech names. Want to guess? They are called "Twitter" and "Blackberry."

Robocare Expands with IRobot’s Telemedicine Practice

Telemedicine laws continue to define online health ventures, but meanwhile industry expands robotic telemedicine options.

Case Study: Branding Your Medical Spa or Anti-Aging Clinic—Legal Considerations—Part 2 (Branding & Marketing)

Branding your medical spa, longevity center, or anti-aging clinic raises legal and regulatory challenges that a skilled healthcare attorney can help you navigate

Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine Legal & Regulatory Issues

Entrepreneurs who fail to properly take into account legal and regulatory issues before opening a longevity and anti-aging medical clinic or health education (or telehealth / telemedicine) [...]

Health Care Reform – Legal – Part 2: The New Regulatory Landscape

Health care reform will continue with a myriad of legal and regulatory changes over the next few years.

Health Care Reform – Legal & Regulatory – Part 1: The Supreme Court Opinion

In National Federation of Independent Business, et al. v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the so-called “individual mandate” in [...]

Cellphone use in Medical Practice Areas

With HIPAA compliance enforcement on the rise, it's no wonder medical practices are wondering what they can do to help protect the privacy and confidentiality of their patients.

FDA Regulation of Wireless Devices

What if everyone wore mobile wireless devices, but some nefarious parties could somehow send signals and interfere with them? This dark scenario was brought to my attention in an article [...]

Energy Healing’s Validity Tested by Legal Claim in Immigation Petition

AMA Warns “Don’t Let Business Associates Create HIPAA Mess”

HIPAA legal and regulatory compliance can help healthcare entities, such as doctors' office, mitigate liability risk. However, compliance must include strong HIPAA policies, procedures, and forms [...]

Patient Privacy Case Settled by US Dept of Health and Human Services

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a $100,000 settlement and plan take corrective action to implement policies and procedures to safeguard the protected health [...]

Times of India reports new law brings more compassion into scientific research

The Times of India reports a new law which brings more compassion into scientific research