Today the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) finalized rules published in December of 2022 changing the requirements for handling SUD patient information governed by 45 CFR part 2 (Part 2)....more
For years, federal privacy laws relating to substance abuse disorder (SUD) treatment records have differed in significant ways from federal privacy laws relating to other medical records. Changes, however, are afoot. Almost...more
More than thirty years ago, the Washington Supreme Court ruled defense counsel may not engage in ex parte communications with a plaintiff’s treating physician. Loudon v. Mhyre, 110 Wn.2d 675, 676 (1988). The Loudon rule, as...more
On November 12, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court extended corporate attorney-client privilege protection to appropriate ex parte communications between defendant hospitals and their non-employee agents. The court’s decision...more
The Washington Supreme Court decided that a corporation's attorney-client privilege may protect communications with independent contractors and other non-employee agents in a recent decision styled Hermanson v. MultiCare...more
Connecticut state and federal courts faced a number of significant health care issues last year. We have summarized those cases that we think are particularly relevant to Connecticut hospitals, group practices and individual...more
Big hospitals can’t exploit patients and violate their privacy by throwing open their facilities to Hollywood for television shows that plump institutions’ reputations. And academic medical centers need to think twice before...more
Telemedicine is a rapidly growing industry that uses telecommunications to gather, store, and communicate clinical information. It is a subcategory of telehealth, which is the broader term encompassing all uses of...more
In the second episode of our series on the national opioid crisis, Gina Bertolini discusses the overlay of recent guidance concerning privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and...more