Dive Brief:
- A bipartisan group of federal legislators is accusing HHS of being slow in making promised clarifications to its technical compliance guidance for HIPAA.
- The group called HHS's efforts "sluggish" and "disappointing," arguing in a letter sent to Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell that the one dcoument recently released suggests a lack of urgency on HHS' behalf, FierceMobileHealthcare reports.
- The lawmakers who signed the letter are representatives Tom Marino (R-PA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), Renee Ellmers (R-NC), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Will Hurd (R-TX).
Dive Insight:
The legislators argue current ambiguity regarding how to comply with HIPAA in the mobile landscape is holding up innovation and implementation of connected health technologies because both developers and healthcare providers are unsure of their requirements.
The letter complains it has been more than fifteen months since HHS committed to Congress it would:
- Update and clarify compliance details for tech companies and identify implementation standards;
- Clarify HIPPA requirements for companies storing data in the cloud; and
- Provide ongoing communication with tech companies to assist with compliance.
The letter closes with a request to Burwell to review HHS' progress on its committments and identify wans in which HHS can work with Congress and industry stakeholders to "achieve real progress."