Conflict of Laws

• Author: Rachel V. Rose - Jonathan P. Tomes - Lance H. Rose
• Pages: 47-51

47

The key word in Apple CEO Tim Cook’s statement is

“mobile.” When a reasonable person thinks of mobility,

he or she denes it as moving or not stationary. In rela-

tion to protected health information (PHI), there is no

exception to mobility. In fact, if a person has a pacemaker,

while it remains in the same place, the device’s location is

wherever the person is. So, if the person travels to India

or the United Kingdom, the device goes too and the PHI

is transmitted from there.

The 2014 Work Plan for the Ofce of the Inspec-

tor General (OIG) of the Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS) states that OIG intends to

review security controls implemented by hospitals

for portable device containing PHI, and security con-

trols over networked medical devices that access PHI

(including computerized medical devices that inte-

grate with the hospital’s electronic health record).

127

Conict of Laws

“If you’ve ever used an iPhone or an iPad, then you know mobile

apps are one of the hottest things in technology today.”

—Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

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