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- This is Naomi Diaz

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with the Becker's Digital Health Podcast.

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Here's your daily industry news briefing

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for today, April 15th.

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First, the American Hospital
Association is challenging HH

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S'S bulletin regarding
online tracking technologies

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for HIPAA covered entities,
calling it substantively

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and procedurally unlawful.

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According to the a HA,

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the HHS bulletin restricts
healthcare organizations from

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using third party web
tracking technologies on their

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websites that may capture IP addresses

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of individuals that visit them.

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The a HA wrote in federal court
hearing quote, recognizing

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that its original bulletin
was legally indefensible.

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HHS responded to the suit

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by issuing a revised bulletin just stays

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before its brief was due,

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but the agency's inconsequential
modifications only

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confirmed that both agency
actions were substantially

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and procedurally unlawful.

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Just like the original bulletin,

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the revised bulletin will
prevent healthcare providers from

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communicating vital health information

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to the communities they serve.

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On March 19th, HHS updated
its stance on online tracking

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tools amid several
hospitals, health systems

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and insurers facing
lawsuits for using them.

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According to the bulletin, HHS stated

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that regulated organizations
may not use tracking

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technologies in a way that would lead

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to sharing private health information

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with tracking technology
providers or breaking HIPAA rules.

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HHS said organizations can
work with a technology vendor

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that provides tracking technology,

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but they cannot disclose
protected health information

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to track tracking technology vendors

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for marketing purposes without
their consumer's consent.

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The a HA wrote in response to this quote,

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the court should put an end to
this embarrassing saga of re

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regulatory overreach

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and bar enforcement of ha's S'S unlawful

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and unwise new rule, the A HA,

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the Texas Hospital Association,
Texas Health Resources

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and United Regional Healthcare
System, sue the HHS in 2023

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and a bid to get the organization

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to bar enforcement of the bulletin.

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17 state hospital
associations and 30 hospitals

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and health systems have submitted friend

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of the court briefs in support
of the a HA in the lawsuit.

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Second, EHR vendor Epic
Systems sold customers,

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and a notice that it is
cutting off data access

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to a startup called
Particle Health, alleging

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that the company has been
misusing patient data.

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CNBC reported April 12th

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and a notice sent to customers April 11th.

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Epic said that particle was
using patient data in an

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unauthorized and unethical manner,

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un unrelated to medical treatment.

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According to the article, this
move impedes particles access

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to its systems which contain more than

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300 million patient records.

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Particle serves as a middleman
facilitating data access

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between EPIC and organizations
like hospitals and clinics.

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CNBC reported that patient data protected

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by HIPAA requires consent
for third party access.

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Epics EHR can be accessed
through care quality,

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facilitating more than 400,000
document exchanges monthly.

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To become a care quality
member, particle had to undergo

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- Vetting and agree to specific
data exchange purposes.

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Epic limits data access to
requests for treatment purposes.

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According to the article, the
EHR vendor raised concerns

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about particles, data retrieval accuracy,

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and suspended its
connection on March 21st,

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citing potential HIPAA
violations in an April 12th

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blog Post Care Equality
said it takes disputes very

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seriously and is committed
to maintaining the integrity

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of the dispute resolution process as well

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as trusted exchange within the framework.

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Meanwhile, particle said
in an April 12th blog post

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that it began addressing
this issue immediately

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after Epic stop responding to
data requests from a subset

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of customers are March 21st.

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Particle also said in an
April 15th news release

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that Epic had implied it
completely disconnected from

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particle health and its
customers from Epic's data.

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But that sentiment is not true

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and that same news release
particle health said quote,

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in fact, the vast majority

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of particle health
customers have continued

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to aary received data from
Epic without interruption

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for use in their important
work supporting providers

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in the treatment of patients.

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Beginning March 21st, epic
indiscriminately stop responding

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to queries from some
particle health customers.

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While there is an ongoing
dispute between Epic

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and Particle health related
to three specific customers,

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the significant majority

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of particle health customers impacted

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by Epic's actions were not in any way

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related to this dispute.

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Epic did not respond to
CNBC's request for comment.

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Third, a majority

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of healthcare organizations
have embraced Apple's iPhone

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and iPad as their go-to
shared use Smart Devices.

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An April 10th report from class frowned

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Kloss interviewed employees
at ad healthcare organizations

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to assess which smart device
vendors they used, along

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with the vendor's ability to
fulfill healthcare demands.

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The report found that although
Apple's devices are not built

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for healthcare specifically,

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apple was respondent's preferred

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choice for three main reasons.

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The first was Apple's product
had seamless compatibility

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with mobile device management solutions.

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The second was employees were
already using Apple products

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in their personal lives, and the third was

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that numerous IT vendors
ensure compatibility

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with Apple's operating
systems ahead of others.

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Additionally, the report found
that the iPhone was preferred

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among most clinicians,

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and that her healthcare
organizations using Apple's Smart

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product devices were highly satisfied due

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to the product's quality,
connectivity, and easy to use iOS.

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