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Consumer Demand in Digital Health Data and Innovation

Digital health companies are producing increasingly innovative products at a rapidly accelerating pace, fueled in large part by the expansive healthcare data ecosystem and the data strategies for harnessing the power of that ecosystem. The essential role data strategies play make it imperative to address the data-related legal and regulatory considerations at the outset of the innovation initiative and throughout the development and deployment lifecycle so as to protect your investment in the short and long term.

The Evolution of Digital Health

Digital health today consists of four key components: electronic health records, data analytics, telehealth, and patient and consumer engagement tools. Electronic health records were most likely first, followed very closely by data analytics. Then telehealth deployment rapidly increased in response to both demand by patients and providers, the improved care delivery and access it offers, and more recently, the expanded reimbursement for telehealth solutions. Each component of digital health was developed somewhat independently, but they have now converged and are interrelated, integral parts of the overall digital health ecosystem.

The patient and consumer engagement dimension of digital health has exploded over the last five years. This is due, in large part, to consumer and patient demand for greater engagement in the management of their healthcare, as well as the entry of disruptors, such as technology service providers, e-commerce companies, consumer products companies and entrepreneurs. At this point in the evolution of the digital health landscape, the patient and consumer engagement tool dimension pulls in all other key components and no digital health consumer engagement tool is complete without the full package.

Data Strategies and Collaborations as Key Innovation Ingredients

No digital health initiative can be developed, pursued or commercialized without data. But the world of data aggregation and analytics has also changed significantly and become immensely complex in recent years. Digital health innovation is no longer working exclusively within the friendly confines of the electronic health record and the carefully regulated, controlled and structured data it holds. Today, digital health innovation relies on massive amounts of data in a variety of types, in various forms, from a wide variety of sources, and through a wide variety of tools, including patient and consumer wearables and mobile devices.

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Order now: The Law of Digital Health Book

Designed to provide business leaders and their key advisors with the knowledge and insight they need to grow and sustain successful digital health initiatives, we are pleased to present The Law of Digital Health, a new book edited and authored by McDermott’s team of distinguished digital health lawyers, and published by AHLA.

Visit www.mwe.com/lawofdigitalhealth to order this comprehensive legal and regulatory analysis, coupled with practical planning and implementation strategies. You can also download the Executive Summary and hear more about how Digital Health is quickly and dynamically changing the health care landscape.

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Telehealth: Implementation Challenges in an Evolving Dynamic

As part of its four-part Digital Health webinar series, on April 14, 2015, McDermott Will & Emery presented “Telehealth: Implementation Challenges in an Evolving Dynamic.”

Telehealth (also known as telemedicine) generally refers to the use of technology to support the remote delivery of health care.  For example:

  • A health care provider in one place is connected to a patient in another place by video conference
  • A patient uses a mobile device or wearable that enables a doctor to monitor his or her vital signs and symptoms
  • A specialist is able to rapidly share information with a geographically remote provider treating a patient

While the benefits of telehealth are clear – for example, making health care available to those in underserved areas and for patients who cannot regularly visit their providers but need ongoing monitoring — implementing telehealth requires providers and patients, as well as payers, to adapt to a dynamic new health care, data sharing and reimbursement delivery framework.  The webinar explored these areas and more.

We are pleased to offer our readers access to the archived webinar and the slide presentation.  If you have questions or would like to learn more, please contact Dale Van Demark.




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Wearable Technologies Are Here To Stay: Here’s How the Workplace Can Prepare

More than a decade ago, “dual use” devices (i.e., one device used for both work and personal reasons) began creeping into workplaces around the globe.  Some employees insisted on bringing fancy new smart phones from home to replace the company-issued clunker and, while many employers resisted at first, dual use devices quickly became so popular that allowing them became inevitable or necessary for employee recruitment and retention, not to mention the cost savings that could be achieved by having employees buy their own devices.  Because of early resistance, however, many HR and IT professionals found themselves scrambling in a reactive fashion to address the issues that these devices can raise in the workplace after they were already prevalent.  Today, most companies have robust policies and procedures to address the risks presented by dual use devices, setting clear rules for addressing privacy, security, protection of trade secrets, records retention and legal holds, as well as for preventing harassment, complying with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), protecting the company’s relationships and reputation, and more.

In 2014, there is a new trend developing in the workplace:  wearable technologies.   The lesson to be learned from the dual use device experience of the past decade: Companies should consider taking proactive steps now to identify the risks presented by allowing wearables at work, and develop a strategy to integrate them into the workplace in a way that maximizes employee engagement, but minimizes corporate risk.

An effective integration strategy will depend on the particular industry, business needs, geographic location and corporate culture, of course.  The basic rule of thumb from a legal standpoint, however, is that although wearables present a new technology frontier, the old rules still apply.  This means that companies will need to consider issues of privacy, security, protection of trade secrets, records retention, legal holds and workplace laws like the NLRA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, laws prohibiting harassment and discrimination, and more.

Employers evaluating use of these technologies should consider two angles.  First, some companies may want to introduce wearables into the workplace for their own legitimate business purposes, such as monitoring fatigue of workers in safety-sensitive positions, facilitating productivity or creating efficiencies that make business operations run more smoothly.  Second, some companies may want to consider allowing “dual use” or even just “personal use” wearables in the workplace.

In either case, companies should consider the following as part of an integration plan:

  • Identify a specific business-use case;
  • Consider the potential for any related privacy and security risks;
  • Identify how to mitigate those risks;
  • Consider incidental impacts and compliance issues – for instance, how the technologies impact the existing policies on records retention, anti-harassment, labor relations and more;
  • Build policies that clearly define the rules of the road;
  • Train employees on the policies;
  • Deploy the technology; and
  • Review the program after six or 12 months to confirm the original purpose is being served and whether any issues have emerged that should be addressed.

In other words, employers will need to run through [...]

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