Technology & Information Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to dominate headlines—not just for its technological leaps, but also for the policies shaping its future. In a major development, a new Republican-backed tax bill, released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 11, 2025, seeks to preempt states from regulating AI models for the next decade. If passed, this bill would prevent state laws governing AI systems, allowing only limited exceptions for measures that simply facilitate or streamline AI development and deployment. Laws attempting to regulate artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decisions systems would be disallowed during the 10 year period.

This proposed federal approach aligns with the current administration’s emphasis on AI innovation over regulation, reflecting a belief that a unified, national policy will spur American competitiveness in this rapidly evolving field.

Healthcare-Data-HIPAA

On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), issued proposed changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule (the Proposed Rule) to strengthen the cybersecurity protections that HIPAA-regulated entities are required to maintain for electronic protected health information (ePHI).

Close up of doctor working on computer in doctor's office. Physician doing paperwork and administration.

Keypoint: With the increased frequency and severity of cyberattacks against healthcare systems, state and federal agencies strive to improve cybersecurity controls with varied success.

In November 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced proposed regulations that would be the first state regulations for hospitals in New York. The governor described the proposed regulation as a “nation-leading blueprint” that would complement the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Patients' privacy and confidentiality concept.

Listen to Husch Blackwell’s Technology Transfer Attorneys Kris Kappel, Dill Myers, and Liam Reilly provide tips for “Winning” the Technology Agreement Tug of War.  This webinar reviews the most negotiated legal terms in Information Technology and Technology Agreements, including warranties, indemnification, and limitation of liabilities. This session also covers issues from both the…

The weather has cleared and SXSW is well underway! The HBInnovate team has been sharing its experiences via Twitter and blog, keeping everyone up-to-date on the innovations and creative ideas on display.

Hot at SXSW continues to be healthcare products and services that rely upon a phone or tablet. Everyone sees the tremendous potential phones and tablets have in supporting our health and wellness.  One of the most common concerns from healthcare startups has been how to do roll-out products and services compliant with The Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Given the transformations taking place at every level in healthcare, it is no surprise that the 2017 SXSW Interactive Conference has a big spotlight on the industry. One superstar in the spotlight this year is wearables. The accelerator pitches during SXSW include ones for wearables designed to improve prenatal care and early breast cancer detection, and there is even a presentation on brain wearables to detect stress, improve focus, and even to let you play video games with your brain. That’s right, brain wearables that help you focus and let you play video games.

A little rain can’t stop SXSW. Husch Blackwell attorneys have attended dozens of interesting presentations and met countless innovative minds. We will continue to post live updates on Twitter (@HBhealthcarelaw) and release brief blog posts related to certain presentations throughout the event. With former VP Joe Biden in town to discuss his cancer moonshot today, our focus is precision medicine.

Precision medicine is an innovative approach to medical treatment that takes into account individual differences in people’s genes, environments, and lifestyles. The promise of precision medicine is delivering the right treatments, at the right time, to the right person. The potential of precision medicine is recognized at the highest levels of government. In his 2015 State of the Union address, former President Barack Obama launched the Precision Medicine Initiative (“PMI”), a bold new research effort to revolutionize health and the treatment of disease. Subsequently, Sylvia M. Burwell, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“DHHS”), announced the FY 2016 budget would include $215 million for the PMI, with $200 million of this to be used by the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) to launch the All of Us program, a national cohort of a million or more Americans who volunteer to share genetic, clinical, and other data to improve research. The funds will also be used to invest in expanding current cancer genomics research and to initiate new studies on how a tumor’s DNA can inform prognosis and treatment choices.

An entrepreneurial company may face an early decision as to how it can afford to develop new technology, particularly new technology that does not fit within the technical specialties of that entity. Whether a new company needs to develop a new website, new software, or a compatible piece of technology, that company might consider entering into a contractual alliance with another party to develop that technology.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which imposes a penalty of $500-$1,500 per violation for pre-recorded or auto-dialed calls to cell phones, contains two statutory exceptions to liability:

  • where the recipient of the call provided his or her prior express consent to be called, or
  • where the call was placed for an “emergency purpose.”

47 U.S.C. § 227 (b)(1). While much attention has been focused on “consent,” the FCC’s definition of “emergency purpose” has remained relatively untested in TCPA litigation.

That landscape may be beginning to change. The federal district court’s recent decision in the putative class action lawsuit Roberts v. Medco Health Solutions, et al., No. 4:15 CV 1368 CDP (E.D. Mo., July 26, 2016) recognized that consistent with the FCC’s promulgated definition, the emergency purpose exception must be interpreted broadly to cover any calls that may affect the health and safety of a consumer.