ANALYSIS: Dobbs Complicates Patient-Focused Info Blocking Rule

The US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org. permanently altered the patient-provider relationship. In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, expect the HHS to revise the Information Blocking Final Rule to better reflect the intersection between reproductive health, patient privacy, and access to a patient’s medical record. That’s because—as it exists in its current form—the rule may inadvertently facilitate retrieval of patient reproductive health data without a patient’s consent or knowledge.

The Free Flow of Protected Health Information

Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016, and the Department of Health and Human Services ...