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Elizabeth Balfour

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Elizabeth Balfour is a litigator and healthcare lawyer and works out of the firm's Del Mar Heights (Northern San Diego) office.

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Inside and outside healthcare counsel should know that the way they guide clients through legal and business issues may need to change based on a recent Ninth Circuit case governing the protections afforded to attorney-client communications, In re Grand Jury.[1] The following update and insights will help you mitigate against the risk of attorney-client emails being produced in litigation:Continue Reading Navigating Dual Purpose Communications After SCOTUS (Almost) Weighs in on Attorney-Client Privilege: 5 Practical Tips for Healthcare Attorneys

The New Year energizes us to plan for success in the coming months. To increase the odds of meeting your business goals, we suggest taking a quick inventory of legal risks and brainstorming corrective actions for 2023. While important, legal risks may not seem urgent until a related problem impacts your business (i.e., you are subject to litigation, a business dispute erupts over unclear contract terms, an insurer or Medicare Administrative Contractor notifies you of billing/coding problems, or an employee makes a claim). Once present, legal risks can take a significant amount of time, expense, and energy to resolve that could be spent elsewhere in your business. We recommend taking a few minutes today to ask yourself the following questions:Continue Reading Are You Ready for 2023? Here’s a Quick Checklist to Reduce Legal Risks in the New Year

On July 1, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”) issued new regulations[1] (the “Regulations”) effective immediately that more narrowly limit the circumstances under which instances of unauthorized access to medical information have to be reported to CDPH.  The new regulations also give CDPH more discretion to adjust penalties for violations.  The Regulations complement Section 1280.15 of the Health and Safety Code (“Section 1280.15”) requiring state-licensed clinics, health facilities, home health agencies, and hospices to prevent any unlawful or unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, a patient’s medical information, and to report any unauthorized access, use or disclosure to the Department no later than fifteen (15) business days after the breach was detected.
Continue Reading California Issues New Health Facility Breach Reporting Requirements

This follows the blog article posted November 28, “Connection and Innovation Take Center Stage at the Patient ENGAGE Conference” and is the second feature regarding the MedCity ENGAGE conference Nov. 6-7 in San Diego. Here, we focus on the aspects of the conference that explored the impact of technology on patient engagement, from wearables to DNA sequencing, to apps used by insureds to quit smoking while reducing insurance premiums in the process.
Continue Reading Patient Empowerment Through Technology is Focus of ENGAGE Conference

MedCity News, a media property of Breaking Media (publisher of Law360) hosted the third annual ENGAGE conference Nov. 6-7 in San Diego. The conference highlighted technology tools that increase patient engagement and strategies deployed by health plans and health systems to align patient incentives with promoting wellness and reducing healthcare delivery costs. There is increased interest from the healthcare industry, investment community and patient advocacy groups in fostering programs, technologies and services that focus on empowering patients to be a driving force in healthcare.  As many speakers reinforced at the conference, patient engagement has gone from an afterthought to a driving force in healthcare. The following are key themes:
Continue Reading Connection and Innovation Take Center Stage at the Patient ENGAGE Conference