Health Information Technology

For both health and retirement plans, technology issues rapidly are changing how plans operate and how claims are paid.  There have been increased federal and state regulations governing electronic recordkeeping, digital signatures, and electronic disclosures and elections.  In addition, there is significant regulation governing information held by health plans, insurers, and service providers.  An increasing number of plans and insurers moving to completely paperless systems, and this trend will continue to evolve - with increased regulation - as technology continues to evolve.  We are experts in the electronic disclosure requirements under Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code, the Heath Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security rules, Gramm-Leach-Bliley's privacy rules, and state and federal privacy and Health Information Technology (HIT) laws that impact health and welfare plans.

Examples of our relevant experience include:

• Auditing a health plan's HIPAA privacy and security compliance, including drafting/updating privacy and security procedures, reviewing business associate agreements, and advising on voluntary correction plans.
• Analyzing the interaction of the HIPAA privacy rules and Gramm-Leach-Bliley as applied insurance products, such as disability, life, and supplemental coverage.
• Advising health plans as to how summary plan descriptions, summaries of material modification, and claims determinations can be made available online, rather than by mailing paper copies.
• Helping health plans establish or contract with service providers to provide electronic health records to plan participants.