The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information (ONC) is seeking input from the public on the role of mobile communication devices (smart phones, tablets, net books, etc.) in the exchange of personal health information within the healthcare industry, i.e. the use of such devices by physicians, hospitals and managed care providers and the ability to protect the privacy of such information.  As part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009, ONC is particularly interested in consumer and healthcare provider preferences for how such protected information should be exchanged and the challenges involved in maintaining privacy in the exchange of such information.  Comments are due December 31, 2011.  For more information see the following link to Jackson Lewis’ workplace privacy blog:

http://www.workplaceprivacyreport.com/2011/11/articles/hipaa-1/provide-feedback-to-government-on-exchanging-health-information-on-mobile-communications-devices/index.html