Government HIPAA Guidance for mHealth Developers

Health app developers sometimes have difficulty determining how the federal HIPAA privacy and security regulations apply to their products. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) just launched an online question and answer forum where developers can ask questions and members of the public can post responses. According to a post on the site, it is meant to be used “to help OCR understand what guidance on HIPAA regulations would be helpful to you.” Questions and responses will be anonymous. The site also states that posts and comments “will not subject anyone to enforcement action.” OCR will moderate submission, but will not vouch for the accuracy of responses, nor will it respond individually to questions. More information is available at http://hipaaqsportal.hhs.gov/.