Health Law

Medical Apologies: Do right and do well

Posted on February 07, 2010
An often overlooked tool in health care providers' struggle with the malpractice crisis is the medical apology. Two thirds of the states provide some form of protection for the medical apology (i.e., a simple apology is not admissible in court...

Health reform now or later -- What's a physician to do?

Posted on January 24, 2010
A few weeks ago, I suggested that -- love it or hate it -- physicians need to prepare themselves for the likely advent of health reform by getting a handle on internal costs and processes, and by strategically organizing into...

Holy Mackarel: Scott Brown, Health Reform Redux and What Can (Should) Happen Next

Posted on January 22, 2010
Today's story begins in the Massachusetts State House Senate chamber. Prominent in the chamber is the Holy Mackarel. (Really. The House chamber is graced by the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts; the Senate had to get something.) A recent alum of...

Healthcare Communications and Social Media - First Anniversary Tweetchat

Posted on January 19, 2010
Sunday night, Dana Lewis (twitter handle: @danamlewis) hosted a special two-hour edition of the weekly Healthcare Communications and Social Media Tweetchat to mark its first anniversary. There was a guest moderator -- Lee Aase (@leeaase). There was a raft of...

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HIPAA enforcement by state attorneys general: The shape of things to come

Posted on January 15, 2010
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal entered a brave new world yesterday, as the first state AG to file a HIPAA enforcement action under the "Son of HIPAA" amendments found in the HITECH Act. Among other HIPAA changes made in the...

Meaningful Use of Certified EHRs: Proposed rules come out just under the wire

Posted on January 03, 2010
Meaningful use of certified EHRs -- the long-awaited definitions were released by HHS and ONC, within HHS, before year-end, as required by law. ("Put on display," technically.) Filed at 4:15 pm on December 30, followed by a 5:15 pm conference...

Health reform unconstitutional? Get over it.

Posted on December 30, 2009
Once again, constitutional challenges to health reform have captured the attention of the daily newspapers. A few months back, it was a couple of Bush I alumni rolling out the conservative/libertarian line in the Washington Post. (Not everyone was convinced...

Health Reform: What's a Provider to Do?

Posted on December 28, 2009
What should health care providers be doing in anticipation of the likely passage of an historic health reform bill? There are at least three possibilities: (1) Lament the passing of the good old days and oppose it; (2) Insist that...

The Joint Commission's latest on medical staff bylaws, six years on

Posted on December 18, 2009
After being put on ice last year, the Joint Commission's standard regarding medical staff bylaws, the medical executive committee (MEC) of a hospital's medical staff, and associated rules and regulations and policies (MS.01.01.01, formerly known as MS...

Patient control over patient data in electronic health records: A work in progress

Posted on December 16, 2009
Over the past six months, there has been a growing (and certainly more visible) patient-centered movement fomented in large part by some of the health care digerati / blogerati / twitterati I know -- revolving around patient control over electronic...

Ten Years After "To Err Is Human"

Posted on December 03, 2009
Ten Years After sang "I'd Love to Change the World" more than ten years ago. Sadly, ten years after the seminal IOM report on medical errors -- To Err Is Human -- was released, we should all be singing that...

HealthBlawg listed in ABA Journal Blawg 100

Posted on November 30, 2009
I'm pleased to announce that HealthBlawg has been named to the ABA Journal Blawg 100. I appreciate the recognition, and the nominations from you, dear readers, that put this blawg on the list. I do not envy the editors who...

Engage With Grace

Posted on November 25, 2009
As patients, as family members, as friends, as health care providers, we have all faced end-of-life issues at one time or another, and we will face them again. And again. This weekend, the "Engage With Grace" message is being broadcast...

Health Care Social Media Legal Issues and Strategy Webinar

Posted on November 18, 2009
Today's HIPAA and Your Social Media Strategy webinar, which I presented together with Jamie Verkamp of (e)Merge, was a success. We had a good turnout, interesting questions and engaging discussion. Here is a version of the slide deck I used...

An ounce of prevention

Posted on November 18, 2009
Today's Boston Globe reports on a feature of the Massachusetts universal health care law that may be replicated at the national level: MassHealth -- the Massachusetts Medicaid program -- has been covering the costs for smoking cessation counseling and medications...

Son of HIPAA Breach Notification Rules and Business Associate Requirements: Who's Ready?

Posted on November 17, 2009
HIMMS Analytics surveyed about 250 hospital and business associate representatives, and came up with some figures to back up what we all knew in our hearts: Most hospitals are gearing up for compliance with the HITECH Act / Son of...

Social Media Session at Oklahoma Hospital Association Annual Meeting

Posted on November 13, 2009
Yesterday I had the pleasure of sharing the podium -- at least virtually -- at the Oklahoma Hospital Association's annual meeting with two leaders in the health care social media sphere, Ed Bennett of the University of Maryland Medical System...

Son of HIPAA Breach Notification Rules

Posted on November 11, 2009
Health care providers: If your patient records aren't already stored digitally, they are likely to be digitized soon. There is a tremendous push by the federal government -- as well as by some private payors and self-insured employers -- to...

David Harlow quoted in "Social Networking 101 for Physicians" piece in Mass Medical Law Report

Posted on November 08, 2009
More and more physicians are exploring the use of social media in their practices, and the Massachusetts Medical Law report ran a piece on Social Networking 101 for Physicians recently, quoting Kevin Pho of KevinMD, Jim Tobin of Ignite Health...

HIPAA and your social media strategy - Webinar November 18, 2009

Posted on November 05, 2009
Physicians, practice managers and other health care providers and managers considering a foray into social media, you are invited to join The Harlow Group and (e)Merge for a webinar discussing this timely and important topic. Here is the (e)Merge announcement:...

Connected Health Symposium 2009 Wrap-up

Posted on October 26, 2009
I attended the Connected Health Symposium last week in Boston and got a healthy dose of the past, present and future in health care connectivity, connectedness and connections. As always, I enjoyed connecting in person with a whole host of...

PHR Panel at Connected Health Symposium 2009

Posted on October 22, 2009
Another very interesting panel at Connected Health Symposium 2009 - this one on PHRs, with Peter Neupert from Microsoft, Roni Zeiger from Google Health and Phil Marshall from WebMD, moderated by John Moore of Chilmark Research (post linked to is...

Connected Health Symposium 2009 - One interesting panel ...

Posted on October 22, 2009
Here's the audio of a very interesting panel discussion at the Connected Health Symposium. The audio quality isn't the greatest, but the content is terrific. Listen/Download. Moderator: Robert Hanscom, JD, Vice President, Loss Prevention and Patient Safety, CRICO/Risk Management Foundation...

Connected Health Symposium 2009

Posted on October 20, 2009
Here's the tweetstream for the Connected Health Symposium 2009, happening October 21-22 in Boston. Check back throughout the conference to see what's going on, and jump in on twitter if you like; the hashtag is #cch09. Hope to see you...

Blog Carnivals this week

Posted on October 15, 2009
Please be sure to check out this week's editions of Blawg Review at Popehat, Grand Rounds at Survive the Journey and Health Wonk Review at InsureBlog. Of special note, this week's edition of Grand Rounds is a participatory medicine edition,...

H1N1 Response Center - Microsoft launches interactive tool

Posted on October 07, 2009
Microsoft has just launched its H1N1 Response Center online, and I had the chance to speak this morning with David Cerino, General Manager of Microsoft Health Solutions Group (the man from HealthVault) and Arthur Kellermann, MD, Professor of Emergency Medicine...

Comments on HITECH Act breach notification rule - from Capitol Hill

Posted on October 06, 2009
Regulations are written to implement legislation. If all legislation were perfectly clear and easily understood by all, there would be little need for regulations. In late August, HHS issued an interim final rule, effective late September, with a 60-day comment...

Massachusetts health care payment reform hearings set to begin this week

Posted on October 05, 2009
For the health wonk going through legislative hearing withdrawal now that the Senate Finance Committee has wrapped up hearings on its bill, there is hope: The Massachusetts legislature will turn to global payment legislation later this week. The Massachusetts health...

David Harlow featured in Fierce Healthcare piece recommending nine health care bloggers: read 'em all

Posted on October 01, 2009
I'm honored to be featured by FierceHealthcare this week as one of Nine Healthcare Bloggers Worth a Click. (There are certainly more than nine worth a click, but if you haven't been reading any of these, please take a look.)...

Blog carnivals this week

Posted on October 01, 2009
Legally Unbound hosted Blawg Review this week. I was fortunate enough to watch the sidewallks get rolled up on Beacon Hill with Blawg Review's anonymous editor, "Ed.," who was in Boston last weekend; he then hightailed it to Vegas to...

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