The Florida Legislature not too long ago amended the Florida Digital Well being Information Alternate Act (the “Act”) to ban sure well being care suppliers using licensed digital well being file applied sciences from storing certified digital well being data[1] exterior of the US, its territories, or Canada.[2] Considerably, the prohibition additionally extends to certified digital well being data which might be saved by means of a third-party or subcontracted computing facility or cloud service supplier.[3]
In impact, qualifying well being care suppliers might not themselves retailer certified digital well being data offshore, nor can they depend on third-party distributors who function offshore. Additionally it is necessary to emphasise that the idea of storage extends to a celebration’s skill to retrieve, entry, and even transmit certified digital well being data.[4] This idea turns into a priority the place a 3rd social gathering contractor exterior of the US, its territories, or Canada, akin to an IT help vendor, digital well being data platform, or knowledge entry subcontractor, is ready to entry certified digital well being data which might be in any other case saved on servers inside the US.
For functions of this offshore prohibition, a “well being care supplier” contains sure qualifying:
- Well being care practitioners licensed or permitted below Florida legislation, akin to physicians, doctor assistants, acupuncturists, chiropractors, podiatrists, naturopathic physicians, optometrists, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, nursing house directors, dieticians, athletic trainers, therapeutic massage therapists, amongst others.
- Well being care amenities and associated service suppliers, akin to hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, nursing houses, assisted dwelling amenities, pharmacies, house well being businesses, nurse registries, companion companies or homemaker companies suppliers, grownup day care facilities, hospices, laboratories approved to carry out testing below the Drug-Free Office Act, beginning facilities, abortion clinics, disaster stabilization items, short-term residential remedy amenities, residential remedy facilities for kids and adolescents, grownup family-care houses, transitional dwelling amenities, prescribed pediatric prolonged care facilities, house medical tools suppliers, intermediate care amenities for individuals with improvement disabilities, well being care companies swimming pools, well being care clinics, organ, tissues, and eye procurement organizations, persevering with care amenities, amongst others.
- Licensed amenities and suppliers furnishing psychological well being or substance abuse companies, together with their respective scientific and non-clinical employees who help inpatient and outpatient companies.[5]
The Act is slated to take impact on July 1, 2023. Qualifying well being care suppliers ought to assess the place digital affected person info is saved, together with whether or not third-party distributors (akin to IT help, scheduling help, and many others.) exterior of the US or Canada have entry to the affected person info. The place there’s a battle, qualifying well being care suppliers may have to start transitioning affected person info to new storage places or take steps to make sure that entry to affected person info is appropriately restricted previous to the Act’s efficient date.
When you’ve got any questions on this current laws or its impression in your group, please contact a member of the Sheppard Mullin Healthcare Group.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Fla. Stat. § 408.051(3). For functions of the Act, a “certified digital well being file” contains “an digital file of health-related info regarding a person which incorporates affected person demographic and scientific well being info, akin to medical historical past and downside lists, and which has the capability to offer scientific resolution help, to help doctor order entry, to seize and question info related to well being care high quality, and to change digital well being info with, and combine such info from, different sources.” Fla. Stat. § 408.051(2).
[2] Fla. Stat. § 408.051(3).
[3] Fla. Stat. § 408.051(3).
[4] Fla. Stat. § 408.051(3).
[5] Fla. Stat. § 408.051(2).
