A United States District Court Judge in Texas issued a ruling June 20 on recent Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) bulletins that restrict healthcare providers from using standard third-party web technologies that partially capture IP addresses on public-facing webpages.
This ruling was in favor of the American Hospital Association (AHA), Texas Hospital Association (THA) and hospital plaintiffs. The AHA and THA sued the HHS Office for Civil Rights, claiming that the bulletins did not follow proper rulemaking processes because no notice-and-comment opportunity was provided. Additionally, the prohibited activity would negatively affect providers who use common web technology to communicate reliable, accurate health information to the general public.
This favorable ruling, which the MHA and many other state hospital associations supported with a joint amicus brief, means that hospitals do not need to alter or discontinue their public-facing websites to comply with the rule and subsequent bulletins issued by the HHS-OCR limiting such technologies.
Members with questions may contact Amy Barkholz at the MHA.