Advancements in healthcare technology continue at an explosive pace and nowhere is this more evident than in the field of mobile healthcare applications. Technology giants such as Apple and Garmin are diving into the wearable healthcare device arena and healthcare app companies are rapidly developing technology to enable devices to transmit healthcare information directly to physicians from these devices. Not surprisingly, physicians are also being courted by technology companies to endorse, invest in, Beta test and enter into licensing agreements to utilize these technologies.
As evidenced, however, by three recent settlements between the New York State Attorney General and several healthcare app companies, the marriage between healthcare and technology is fraught with potential legal pitfalls. According to the NY Attorney General’s press release, the settlement involved the makers of Cardiio, Runtastic, My Baby’s Beat, three popular healthcare applications that, among other things, monitor user heart rates. In addition to requiring the companies to pay civil settlements, the settlement agreements require the companies to modify certain of their marketing claims which the Attorney General alleged were misleading, and to change their privacy practices regarding the use and disclosure of user information. In light of these settlements, physicians considering getting involved with app makers or other healthcare technology ventures should carefully vet those arrangements and the applications themselves for compliance with healthcare laws including, without limitation, federal and state kickback prohibitions and privacy and security considerations.