New Site Lays Down the (Health IT) Law

John Pulley | Nextgov | June 5, 2012

Rapid adoption and innovation of health information technology presents a bewildering and uncertain legal landscape. A new online guide seeks to map the terrain and identify legal implications for health IT.

The website, Health Information and the Law, provides “comprehensive materials on federal laws pertinent to health information” as well as “information on state law that enables cross-state comparisons and comparison of state and federal law on key issues,” researchers at The George Washington University Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program announced last month.

The online resource, HealthInfoLaw.org, focuses on the “access, use, release, and publication of health information, [including] current legal and regulatory framework for health information, as well as changes in the legal and policy landscape that have an impact on health information law and its implementation,” according to an announcement released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The site considers implications for privacy, confidentiality and quality of health care...