I am working on a collaborative endeavor right now where the BAA (business associate agreement) signing has literally taken a year. The whole project will likely take 2 weeks. I know I’m likely not going to shock anyone listening, but the legal side of any sale or install or collaboration or proposed interoperability can be a serious impediment when every venture takes literally months or even years. That’s kind of the opposite of a fluid marketplace or fluid collaborative environment and one of the reasons why organizations can’t innovate, even incrementally, if that innovation involves any outside partners or alliances.
This whole legal jumble can also be a big reason why organizations might stick with substandard vendors, even vendors who are clearly overcharging them in some cases—just because the hassle factor and expense of switching to a better option is real. So, what’s some practical advice to minimize the amount of time spent in BAA or contracting purgatory so that we can move forward with improving patient care and outcomes and being disciplined and efficient in the process in doing so?
In this health care podcast, I speak with Bill Tanenbaum from Polsinelli. Bill is Polsinelli’s practice co-chair of health care technology and innovation.
You can learn more by contacting Bill on LinkedIn
and by visiting polsinelli.com.
William A. Tanenbaum works closely with clients to provide actionable, industry-informed solutions for their business needs. Recognized as one of the Who’s Who Legal “Thought Leaders Global Elite,” Bill is also ranked in top tiers by Chambers: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Legal500, and Best Lawyers in technology, outsourcing, intellectual property (IP), and data law and as one of the Top 30 IT lawyers in the US (Who’s Who Legal). Chambers says Bill “brings extremely high integrity, a deep intellect, fearlessness and a practical, real-world mindset to every problem.” Chambers identifies Bill as a “prominent figure in technology and outsourcing” with a “solid national reputation” and “notable expertise in cybersecurity, data law and IP.” Bill is a past president of the International Technology Law Association. He is a member of Polsinelli’s 40-attorney Technology Transactions and Data Privacy Group, and the practice co-chair of the Health Care Technology and Innovation Group, the nation’s second-largest practice, according to the American Health Lawyers Association.
02:27 Collaboration and collaborative intellectual property (IP).
02:53 The typical mistake when collaborating.
03:29 What can go wrong when you jointly own IP.
05:33 “The basic way to do it is to figure out the business result that you want.”
05:44 The tools you need to collaborate the right way.
07:46 “How do you get a patent on this?”
08:16 How equity can throw a wrench into collaboration and acquisition.
10:41 The types of intellectual property regimes.
11:01 The overlapping parts of IP in collaboration.
11:36 Is there really joint ownership?
14:36 What needs to be in place legally in order to share and collaborate on data.
14:59 “Data ownership doesn’t fit very well within any legal regime.”
16:26 “Data as a service.”
16:34 The business associate aspect of a hospital bed.
17:18 “Who owns all this data now?”
17:55 Barriers to the right things getting done.
18:21 Ensuring that your outgoing data doesn’t violate HIPAA.
19:51 “Sometimes this is just a mismatch of expectations.”
20:41 How collaboration within data and IP works.
22:14 Patients vs hospitals—who owns patient data?
25:38 What TEFCA is and is trying to do.
26:30 “How do we actually make this work?”
26:59 TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement) and FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources).
27:34 The HIE (Health Information Exchange) objection to TEFCA.
28:04 Expense vs proprietary rights.