Emerging Technology & Deregulation: What it Means for a Free Society
I previously detailed the trend toward integrating public health (i.e. federal health initiatives and public health practice) with the consumer health care industry as a whole. This trend has largely been proliferating through what is known as Health Information Technology or Health IT (HIT) and it presents incredible new concerns because our technology is evolving rapidly, but our regulatory protections are devolving.
Not long before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed into law, along with its mandate for implementation of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) and a requirement for “meaningful use”, the federal government began encouraging development of new information technology products that would have the capability of integrating with public health data management and decision support systems. This “encouragement” began with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009.
What Exactly is Health IT?
“Per the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, the term health information technology (IT) means hardware, software, integrated technologies or related licenses, intellectual property, upgrades, or packaged solutions provided as services that are designed for or support the use by health…
