Dive Brief:
- Workplace wellness programs are on the rise, but with the promise of a healthier workfoce comes the increased risk of not protecting healthcare data privacy, according to a report at CNN.com.
- Wellness programs come in many forms, with some asking personal health-connected questions as well as data generated by biometric screenings and other tests. That also means as ways to log sensitive healthcare data increases, so does the risk that privacy and anti-discrimination laws are being ignored, or the data being misused.
- Worse, today's legal protective landscape may not apply to all wellness programs and also may lag behind advances in technology — for example, fitness trackers record factors such as wearer location, activity level and sleep patterns.
Dive Insight:
EEOC lawsuits have begun to spring up in what the Commission says are improper uses of wellness program incentives, but so far, there has not been much evidence that personal data is being used specifically for employment-related decision-making (hiring and firing, mainly) — clearly not what wellness programs were designed for.
However, recent EEOC-proposed regulations are unclear, critics says, particularly as to what the term "administer" means in the EEOC providing a green light to employers in accessing individual wellness program data provided "if it's necessary to administer their health plans." Critics say the EEOC not only fails to define "administer," they also wonder what wellness data has to do directly with healthcare plans anyway. That may become clearer in the months ahead when the EEOC finalizes its regulations, but no date is set for that event.
