Health data privacy helped fuel Supreme Court cellphone ruling

The possible presence of healthcare data on cellphones helped put the devices in a legal class worthy of heightened constitutional protections from warrantless searches by police, the US Supreme Court ruled. That unanimous decision, while narrowly focused on balancing the privacy rights of individuals and the “legitimate government interests” needed to enforce the law at the time of a person's arrest, could have broader healthcare implications, healthcare privacy specialists contend.

The decision could be used as a reference point, highlighting the special nature of healthcare information, as the healthcare industry wrestles to find a similar balance between patients' consent rights over disclosure of their medical records and the interests of healthcare providers, researchers and other commercial entities in getting less-fettered access to those records.

“I certainly didn't see any immediate potential impact for the healthcare industry, but I did find it interesting in demonstrating the court's continuing commitment to health information privacy,” said Adam Greene, a privacy lawyer with Davis Wright Tremaine in Washington. “It sets up precedent in the government having a very strong stake in protecting patient privacy above other interests.”