“Big Data” attorney Kristen Rosati spoke on a panel at the American Telemedicine Association’s Annual Conference, Nexus, on the pros and cons of moving direct-to-consumer functions within the HIPAA-regulated functions of a company.

In the presentation, “The Cutting Edge of Digital Health Privacy Law,” Kristen spoke to the big shift in digital health companies’ approach to HIPAA compliance. While many digital health companies tried to avoid HIPAA in the past, the explosion of state consumer data privacy laws have started to change that calculus because all state laws to date have HIPAA exemptions. Kristen explained that complying with HIPAA reduces the complexity of compliance processes, and offers exemption from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) health breach reporting rule, which has more stringent reporting obligations than HIPAA.

Kristen advised companies to carefully consider the potential disadvantages of having the company’s functions covered by HIPAA, including regulatory oversight, potential penalties for violations, and major restrictions on marketing.

A sought-after national speaker, Kristen has been active in national health care policy and served as past President (2013-2014) and Fellow of the American Health Law Association (AHLA), the nation’s largest health care legal organization. She was recently recognized by Super Lawyers as one of the top 25 women attorneys in Arizona and is a founding member of the Arizona Leadership Council for Take the Lead Women.

Read more about Kristen’s recent accomplishments and speaking engagements.