Legislation led by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) would expand health privacy protections to account for new technologies that are not currently required to have protections, such as smartwatches and health apps.
“Smartwatches and health apps change the way people manage their health. They’re helpful tools, but present new privacy concerns that didn’t exist when it was just a patient and a doctor in an exam room,” Sen. Cassidy said on Tuesday. “Let’s make sure that Americans’ data is secured and only collected and used with their consent.”
Traditional provider-patient interactions are governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). However, HIPAA is failing to keep up with consumer health products that connect individuals to health tools outside of the doctor’s office, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Cassidy’s office.
The lawmaker on Nov. 4 sponsored the Health Information Privacy Reform Act, S. 3097, to require health technologies not subject to HIPAA to disclose how consumer information is collected and shared.
Additionally, S. 3097 would explore how to give consumers’ opportunities to share their health data to support future research and be compensated for their contributions, the summary says.
The measure has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Cassidy.