Google Glass could become HIPAA-compliant
Google Glass, the eyeglass-like device that provides constant computer access, takes photographs, and streams live video, has been used during surgery at some facilities, but there have been questions about whether some uses would violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). A new partnership with a software company might help reduce that risk.
CrowdOptic, a company in San Francisco, CA, that makes video streaming software for wearable devices, recently announced a partnership with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to develop ways to use the device in medicine. A key step will be including software that allows the surgeon to stream video to a local server instead of Google’s server, as is normally done.
Sending the video stream to a local server will allow the healthcare provider to restrict who has access to protected health information (PHI), the company says. Some of the Glass features will be unavailable in this mode, but the surgeon can switch back to normal mode when compliance is no longer necessary, the company says.
If the device can be made HIPAA-compliant, CrowdOptic and USCF researchers say Glass might be used much more widely in the OR.
