Compliance Stuff

Move over HIPAA…the health privacy landscape may be in for a shakeup. On November 4, 2025, S enator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced the  Health Information Privacy Reform Act (HIPRA) , a bill aimed at closing a gap in health data protections. HIPAA has long governed the privacy of traditional medical records held by health care providers and health plans, but what about the data collected by your smartwatch, fitness app, or wellness platform? Those technologies are currently governed by a patchwork of state laws and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) guidelines. HIPRA intends to change that. According to the  press release , HIPRA is intended to “expand health privacy protections to account for new technologies that are not currently required to have privacy protections, such as wearables and health apps.” What Would HIPRA Cover? The bill introduces a new category of health data called “Applicable Health Information” (AHI). AHI is any identifiable (or reasonably identifiabl...

  Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a fact sheet entitled, “ Wearables in the Workplace: The Use of Wearables and Other Monitoring Technology Under Federal Employment Discrimination  Laws .” “Wearables,” defined as electronic or digital devices that contain sensors and are worn to track body movement, collect biometric information and track location, and include such tools as fitness trackers and smart watches. The EEOC fact sheet addresses issues that may arise when employers require employees to wear smart watches, rings, or helmets, for example, that track their movement and location and monitor their physical and emotional condition. In particular, the fact sheet discusses how federal employment discrimination laws apply when employers use wearables to collect and use this information, and their responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations in appropriate situations.   The Use of Wearables at Work Boeing, Ford Motor Company, ...

  Fatigue continues to be a problem for workers. In fact, more than 43% of U.S. workers are sleep deprived and say they are too tired to function at their job, according to a survey released by the National Safety Council in 2019.     By 2020 that number went up to 77%. Although the pandemic was probably a large component of that, the numbers are not going in the right direction. This issue has a direct impact on safety in the workplace. It’s estimated, by the National Safety Council, that 13% of workplace injuries are caused by fatigue. Translated into costs, employers are paying more than $136 billion annually in health-related lost productivity. Viewing this number from a cost per employee, it’s around $1,200-$3,100 per year. In addition to injuries, fatigue can cause reduced mental cognition, decision-making, and reaction time, as well as decreased performance and productivity. As is the case with solving many issues, technology has a large role to play. In this...