Insights

Washington – August 17, 2023: The 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 47 firm lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 41 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

Washington – August 18, 2022: The 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 54 firm lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 32 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

Washington – July 22, 2022:  Crowell & Moring is advising Amazon on health care and related matters in its acquisition of One Medical for approximately $3.9 billion. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

On February 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) in the Federal Register modifying regulations at 42 C.F.R. part 2 (“Part 2”) governing the confidentiality of substance use disorder (“SUD”) records. The changes, which largely finalize those proposed in a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”), are intended to implement section 3221 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act and more closely align Part 2 with privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). Ultimately, the much-anticipated Final Rule relaxes some of Part 2’s very stringent requirements, which have historically limited the ability to include SUD data in electronic health information exchange and care coordination efforts. However, there may be more enforcement of Part 2 now that there can be civil enforcement that aligns with HIPAA. Compliance with the Final Rule is required by February 16, 2026.

On January 11, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to modify the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA Rule”), a set of regulations implementing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) statute. Overall, the NPRM seeks to strengthen and clarify the COPPA Rule in response to technological advances and changes in the way children interact with online offerings. In particular, the NPRM follows a public comment period in which the FTC noted novel issues affecting the COPPA Rule, including the educational technology sector, voice-enabled connected devices, and platforms directed to general audiences that host third-party content directed to children. Comments on the NPRM are due on March 11, 2024.

The All-Hands Meeting is a paid admission event and advance registration is essential. If you have any questions, please contact Wendy Smith.

Our health care landscape is rapidly transforming. As the health care space has become more digitized and more reliant on technology than ever before, artificial intelligence (AI), telehealth services, data analysis, and medical devices have become drivers of our health care system. Likewise, value-based care is becoming increasingly popular among delivery systems, leaving accountable care organizations (ACOs) to adhere to changing federal compliance requirements. The burden falls on health care entities to remain up-to-date on how care is evolving as federal and state compliance regulations and privacy concerns continue to develop.