Emma Kaeser

The privacy of sensitive reproductive health data remains precarious despite the HIPAA Final Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy, which went into effect in June 2024. Much remains to be seen in the coming months as lawsuits proceed and federal policies shift with a change in administration. For now, the Final Rule provides important, albeit limited, protections to uphold privacy, improve access to appropriate care, and counteract punitive surveillance that undermines health.

Data sharing across correctional and community systems is complex and laden with risk, but failure to share data entails risk as well given the vital role data plays in effective pre- and post-release services to support youth during a particularly unsafe period. Thus, data sharing partners must not shy away from the admittedly hard work of navigating these challenges. Rather, partners must work towards effective and equitable cross-sector data sharing, recognizing the value of disclosure and the imperative of safeguarding privacy. This work necessitates community-driven, empowering data sharing that protects against further entanglement of punitive systems in health and social care.  This resource is intended to assist states implementing the youth-focused Medicaid and CHIP reforms in navigating these data sharing challenges. It identifies the important role of data sharing in reentry services and highlights the different roadblocks that those engaged in data sharing may encounter. It then identifies legal, ethical, and practical considerations for designing equitable data sharing systems that center the voices of impacted youth and protect against further entanglement of punitive systems in health and social care.

Community adaptation is a process communities utilize to lessen the impacts of climate change locally. Community adaptation policies provide cooling and shade, reduce air and water pollution, mitigate the effects of flooding, and reduce health disparities. Implementing effective community adaptation policies that center health equity involves more than public health departments – it involves housing, energy, transportation, parks and recreation, and other agencies, with community engagement in each step of the process. Community adaptation will continue to be critical to ameliorating the health impacts of climate change and combatting environmental injustices.

Join us for a discussion of how the law can provide guidance in defining your public health work. Hear from colleagues about how they are navigating a challenging post-pandemic landscape and how the way in which we approach our work shapes public health practice, the law that governs our practice, and the public’s health.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Network attorneys and staff have identified six key policies with the potential to significantly improve mental health outcomes across the United States. This policy brief covers a wide range of areas focused on communities and those who work to support communities. It is designed as a practical resource for public health professionals, leaders, and partners, offering strategies to enhance mental health and well-being while reducing disparities in mental health care.

On March 18, 2024, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a bulletin updating guidance on the use of online tracking technologies by HIPAA covered entities and their business associates. The bulletin, which updates OCR’s December 2022 guidance on the same topic, follows renewed warnings from OCR on the dangers of online tracking technologies and comes amidst increased attention to the privacy risks that these technologies pose

Text messaging can provide health departments with an efficient means of sharing timely public health information such as guidance, announcements, and emergency alerts. While texting can be an effective tool for protecting the public’s health, it raises important privacy issues that health departments must consider when developing texting initiatives. This fact sheet examines one piece of that legal framework: the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and regulations implemented by the Federal Communications Commission that govern certain kinds of texting.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an onslaught of legal challenges to public health authority, some of which cite a rule known as the nondelegation doctrine. The nondelegation doctrine purports to promote accountability by shifting power from unelected officials to legislatures. But in practice, limiting health officers’ authority can impede a health department’s ability to protect communities from harm.

In the U.S., every state health department operates a newborn screening (NBS) program. NBS programs result in the early diagnosis of serious conditions in over 13,000 babies annually, making it a powerful public health intervention. As NBS requires the collection of personal information, it raises important considerations regarding individual privacy, autonomy, and ethical uses of data.

In September, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced the release of an updated Security Risk Assessment Tool. The tool is designed to make it easier for entities and business associates covered under HIPAA to understand and remediate risks to electronic health information.