![]() ![]() Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), HIPAA protects the privacy and security of certain health information and requires certain entities to make aware health information breaches. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)Įnforced by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Of note, industry groups have also proposed voluntary privacy guidelines for wellness-related personal devices. 8 However, these guidelines are not necessarily binding to the app developers unless the jurisdiction’s law specifically requires compliance. 7 However, there are guidelines which state that apps should offer “clear and readable advice and avoid ‘legalese,’ and generally suggest that apps should limit data collection to what is needed and have clear and easy-to-find privacy policies. Interestingly, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) rules only apply to “covered entities” (such as doctors, hospitals, and insurance providers) and their “business associates.” Third-party app companies do not generally fall under HIPAA’s rubric unless there is a direct relationship between the app company and the covered entity-for example, if a hospital contracts with the app provider for patient management services. Table 1 is an example of various US laws and regulations regarding privacy. However, along with this potential comes risk, especially regarding the privacy of patients’ health information.ĭifferent countries have developed regulations to protect patient privacy. 6 With the rapid growth of these monitoring and self-management tools, there is great potential for collecting and sharing personal and health-related information. ![]() 5 In the United States, 58% percent of adults report using one or more health tracking apps. (In 2018, it is estimated that nearly half of 3.4 billion smartphone users will use health-related apps. Over the past several years, commercial companies have developed headache apps, and statistics show that these apps will likely be used by many headache patients. Furthermore, research has shown that electronic headache diaries are a reliable method of data collection and their use is preferred by patients, particularly because they are more discreet than paper diaries. 1– 3 With the advent of technology, electronic headache diaries have been used in research studies, and such studies have shown that the apps may assist with patient management plans via daily tracking of headache days, headache intensity, and medication usage. Headache diaries are a mainstay of migraine management.
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