Latest news with #HealthInsurancePortabilityandAccountabilityAct
Time Business News
2 days ago
- Health
- Time Business News
AI Chatbots Transform Healthcare with Smarter Patient Support
Chatbots that operate on the rules of machine learning, which comes under artificial intelligence, besides performing interactions are referred as chatbots, they also perform repetitive tasks such as providing solutions, sending emails, marketing, lead generation, results analysis, etc. The healthcare sector is adopting chatbots to manage high patient volume. Exponential advancements in the field of artificial intelligence are primarily responsible for the growth of the global healthcare chatbots. Key Growth Drivers and Opportunities Technological Advancements in AI and NLP: The AI-powered chatbots are increasingly being integrated into healthcare systems to enhance patient interaction, reduce response times, and improve the overall patient experience. Technological advancements have significantly improved the capabilities of chatbots, enabling them to understand and respond to complex medical queries, offer personalized health advice, and provide real-time support to patients. Ongoing technological progress is driving the adoption of chatbots across hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings on global scale. Increasing Demand for Virtual Health Assistants: The virtual health assistants have gained popularity, as healthcare providers seek to enhance patient engagement and satisfaction. These chatbots assist patients with appointment scheduling, and prescription refills and provide primary medical advice, thereby reducing the workload on healthcare staff and improving operational efficiency. Challenges The Chatbots' having access of sensitive patient information raises concerns about data breaches, unauthorized access, and potential misuse of personal health data. Keeping patient information private and secure is absolutely essential, especially considering strict rules such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) here in the U.S. To tackle these challenges, healthcare professionals and chatbot creators really need to put strong security practices in place. Need to protect patient privacy and secure health data can act as a restraining factor, potentially slowing down the adoption of healthcare chatbots in the region. Innovation and Expansion Babylon Taps Google Cloud to Scale AI Healthcare Globally In March 2020, Al –powered healthcare Babylon Health has announced a partnership with Google Cloud to drive scalability and innovation. London-based Babylon Health is a digital-first healthcare provider that uses Al and machine learning technologies to help people access health information whenever and wherever they need it. This partnership was all about using Google Cloud's secure setup and top-notch data analysis tools to boost Babylon's digital health offerings. By making the move to the cloud, Babylon Health hoped to make its services better, grow its worldwide operations, and speed up new developments in AI-powered diagnostic tools. HealthTap Launches Low-Cost Virtual Care for Uninsured In February 2025, HealthTap, a leading virtual healthcare provider, announced in May 2021 that it has launched an affordable accessible way for the uninsured and underinsured to establish an ongoing primary care relationship with the doctor of their choice. This service provides virtual primary care appointments for a small monthly cost, making it easier for people in vulnerable situations to get quality healthcare. Patients can choose their preferred doctor and develop strong, ongoing relationships by meeting regularly through these virtual check-ins. The goal is to improve healthcare access for everyone and lessen the need for expensive emergency room visits. Inventive Sparks, Expanding Markets The key players operating the healthcare chatbots includes BABYLON HEALTH, HealthJoy, Health Tap, SENSELY, Lifelink Inc., Buoy Health, Inc, WOEBOT LABS, INC., Wysa, Ltd. Collective goal is to prevent illness by offering proactive, data-driven digital health solutions. About Author: Prophecy is a specialized market research, analytics, marketing and business strategy, and solutions company that offer strategic and tactical support to clients for making well-informed business decisions and to identify and achieve high value opportunities in the target business area. Also, we help our client to address business challenges and provide best possible solutions to overcome them and transform their business. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Buzz Feed
4 days ago
- Health
- Buzz Feed
Doctors Breaking HIPAA: Patient Horror Stories
You've probably heard of HIPAA — the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — which aims to ensure the privacy of patients at hospitals and other healthcare settings. Basically, the idea is that nobody should see your private health information except for the people who need to (i.e. your doctor). Recently, Redditor u/un_occupied asked, "Healthcare workers of Reddit, what is the most egregious HIPAA violation you've witnessed?" and there were a shocking number of even more shocking stories. Here are some of the most infuriating ones: Has anything like this ever happened to you? If so, tell us your story using the anonymous form below and it might be featured in a future BuzzFeed post or video!
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Health
- Business Insider
Luigi Mangione has an issue with another health insurance company — and it's not UnitedHealthcare
Lawyers for the accused United Healthcare CEO killer, Luigi Mangione, are up in arms over what they say were "secret" communications between his New York prosecutors and Aetna, his former health insurer. They say prosecutors sent Aetna an "unlawful," back-channel subpoena seeking his confidential insurance account number and the time period for his coverage — and that in response, Aetna mistakenly sent prosecutors Mangione's entire, 120-page insurance record. This "trove of protected medical information" includes "different diagnoses as well as specific medical complaints made by Mr. Mangione," his lawyers complained in a court filing Thursday night. New York prosecutors should never have had access to these private records, his lawyers contend. And they should never have looked at them once receiving them, they also argue. Aetna emailed the records to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on June 12, in four files, with a cover letter advising "confidential." Each file was separately labeled "in large-type bold letters 'Request for Protected Health Information," the lawyers wrote. "It would be impossible for anyone to view a single page of these records and not immediately see that they were private, confidential medical records within the scope of HIPAA," the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the lawyers wrote. The sheer volume of Aetna's response should have alerted prosecutors that "the unlawful subpoena they served on Aetna resulted in far more material than they requested," the lawyers wrote. But instead of immediately sending the materials to the judge and the defense — where they should have been directly sent, as required by law — the DA's office says it downloaded them into an internal "discovery file," the lawyers wrote. The lawyers say prosecutors "sat on this information" for 12 days, until June 24, when they sent the judge and defense team an email forwarding the four files. Prosecutors have told Mangione's lawyers that in the interim, they had reviewed the records, but not "in their entirety," according to the defense filing. The defense filing, signed by defense lawyers Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Marc Agnifilo, and Jacob Kaplan, asks New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro to order prosecutors to turn over all of their communications with Aetna. It also asks the judge to hold "a full evidentiary hearing," with sworn testimony, to determine possible remedies, including the recusal of lead prosecutor Joel Seidemann, the suppression of evidence, and the dismissal of Mangione's indictment. The subpoena, issued directly to Aetna and signed by Seidemann, bypassed the judge and defense team and should never have requested even the limited, HIPAA-protected information of Mangione's account number and period of coverage, his lawyers argue. "If they're seeking information that is privileged, like medical records, the DA can't just subpoena that stuff directly," veteran homicide public defender Sam Roberts told Business Insider on Friday. Prosecutors must first file a motion or application to the judge and defense team, alerting them to the subpoena, and then wait for the judge to review the subpoenaed materials privately, said Roberts, a senior staff attorney on the homicide defense task force of the Legal Aid Society. "It sounds like they jumped the gun here," Roberts said. "They got this information without first giving notice to the defense, and they got the information directly from Aetna when they should have sent it to the court first without opening it." Mangione's lawyers allege in their filing that the May 14 subpoena initially commanded Aetna to send someone to appear in court on May 23 with "the account number and period of time during which the following individual received coverage: Luigi Mangione." The subpoena was not made public or viewed by BI. May 23 was "a completely made-up date," on which no court proceeding was scheduled, Mangione's lawyers wrote. Along with the subpoena, Seidemann sent a cover letter with his phone number and email, advising that "in lieu of appearing personally with the requested documents," Aetna could mail or deliver the records to the court, the lawyers wrote. Prosecutors "were plainly lying to get the materials as soon as possible," they wrote, in order to bring their case to trial first, before he could be tried by federal prosecutors. In addition to the state-level case, which alleges murder as an act of terrorism, Mangione is facing related, death-penalty-eligible murder charges in federal court. Prosecutors in central Pennsylvania say they, too, will try him for forgery and firearm charges related to his arrest there on December 9, after a five-day national manhunt. Mangione's lawyers previously complained that in April, Manhattan prosecutors improperly listened to an 11-minute attorney-client phone call, something the DA's office has denied. Both state and federal jurisdictions are vying to be first to put Mangione on trial. Had Mangione's lawyers not been bypassed, they would have objected to the Aetna subpoena, including on the grounds that "the information sought is not relevant," they wrote. A spokesperson for the DA's office told BI on Friday that they will respond to the defense allegations in court papers. "Aetna received a subpoena for certain medical records, and we provided them appropriately," said Phil Blando, executive director for communications for Aetna's parent company, CVS Health. Asked if the district attorney subpoena requested details beyond Mangione's account number and coverage period, Blando told BI in an email, "You have our statement." Mangione, a 27-year-old software developer, remains in a federal jail in Brooklyn in the December 4 murder of Thompson. The 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota was shot in the back at close range outside a Midtown hotel where he was about to address the UnitedHealthcare shareholders meeting. Mangione is linked to the killing by his so-called "manifesto" and by DNA, ballistics, video, and fingerprint evidence, according to state and federal prosecutors. He is next due in state court on September 16, and in federal court on December 5; both courts are in Manhattan.
Economic Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Economic Times
US health department shares immigrants' personal data with ICE to track and deport illegal migrants
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is providing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to personal data of around 79 million Medicaid enrollees to assist in identifying individuals who may not be living in the country legally. The development reflects an expansion of federal immigration enforcement through healthcare oversight. A spokesperson from HHS confirmed that data sharing between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, was carried out within legal boundaries. 'With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and DHS, HHS acted entirely within its legal authority – and in full compliance with all applicable laws – to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them,' the spokesperson said. The move has raised privacy concerns, particularly under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HHS did not specify the type of information shared or detail any safeguards in place to protect sensitive data. However, according to the Associated Press, which reviewed the agreement, the data provided includes enrollees' home addresses and ethnicities. A DHS spokesperson said the initiative with CMS is meant to ensure that individuals residing unlawfully in the US do not receive Medicaid benefits. Under federal law, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid. However, 14 states and the District of Columbia offer Medicaid coverage for eligible children regardless of immigration status, while seven states and DC do so for adults. An HHS spokesperson stated, 'CMS is aggressively cracking down on states that may be misusing federal Medicaid funds to subsidize care for illegal immigrants. This oversight effort – supported by lawful interagency data sharing with DHS – is focused on identifying waste, fraud, and systemic abuse.' The agreement, signed earlier this week, follows a series of administrative actions that align with the Trump administration's broader immigration strategy. Last week, HHS widened its interpretation of a law that restricts most immigrants from receiving federal public benefits. The policy shift adds another layer of complexity for immigrant families navigating healthcare access in the US.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Health
- USA Today
Personal Medicaid data given to ICE for immigration enforcement
Health and Human Services' decision to hand over Medicaid data raises privacy concerns. Immigrants in most states are already ineligible for Medicaid. WASHINGTON ‒ The U.S. health department said it is giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials access to the personal data of 79 million Medicaid enrollees to help them track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the country. Giving ICE access to the personal data of Medicaid enrollees marks another escalation in President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies. It may also raise privacy concerns under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA. A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said sharing data between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, fell within the department's legal authority. "With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and DHS, HHS acted entirely within its legal authority – and in full compliance with all applicable laws – to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them," the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the department was exploring an initiative with CMS to ensure people living in the country illegally do not receive Medicaid benefits. The agreement was first reported earlier on July 17 by the Associated Press, which said it was signed on July 14. The Medicaid health program, which provides coverage for low-income people, is jointly funded by the federal government and states. Immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for Medicaid under federal law, but 14 states and the District of Columbia provide coverage for eligible children regardless of immigration status, and seven states and the District of Columbia do so for adults. "CMS is aggressively cracking down on states that may be misusing federal Medicaid funds to subsidize care for illegal immigrants," the HHS spokesperson said. "This oversight effort – supported by lawful interagency data sharing with DHS – is focused on identifying waste, fraud, and systemic abuse." The spokesperson did not address questions from Reuters on the type of data being shared or on how HHS would ensure HIPAA protections are upheld. The AP, citing a copy of the data-sharing agreement, said the data included home addresses and ethnicities. The agreement is the latest in a series of moves by the health department in support of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and comes a week after it widened its interpretation of a law banning most immigrants from receiving federal public benefits. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Rosalba O'Brien)
