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The federal patient privacy law known as HIPAA has not kept pace with wearable fitness trackers, mobile health apps and online patient communities, leaving a gaping hole in regulations that needs to be filled, according to a much-delayed government report released today. The report, which was supposed to be complete in 2010, does not include specific recommendations for fixing the problem, even though Congress asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide them. (Ornstein, 7/19)

More than six years late and more than a few requirements short, the federal government has released a report on the privacy and security – or lack thereof – of healthcare information that's gathered by organizations and businesses that are not subject to HIPAA. The 32-page report says there is a lack of clear guidance to protect the information, according to a joint statement by Dr. Karen DeSalvo, head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS, and Jocelyn Samuels, director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. (Conn, 7/19)

As employers seek to reduce the costs of untreated mental illness among staffers, more companies are trying mobile apps that help workers easily find and receive treatment. Some apps mine data about employees’ phone usage, or medical and pharmaceutical claims, to determine who might be in need of care. Others allow workers to text and video chat with therapists—in what are being called “telemental” health services. (Silverman, 7/19)

Scientists have woven microscopic sensors into thread to gather diagnostic data from the tiniest of sutures. The smart threads can sense pH, glucose levels, and temperature. They can even ferry tiny amounts of bodily fluids from one point to another for analysis by microsensor. And they can transmit data wirelessly — so they can alert doctors when a patient’s blood sugar is off or an infection is starting to form in a wound. (Thielking, 7/19)

A Franklin-based tech firm is looking to unlock troves of health care data — an effort that's won a key relationship with industry heavyweight HCA. Digital Reasoning specializes in software that helps its clients to more easily parse troves of emails or other unwieldy receptacles of information — and without relying on the use of key words. Computers can use context to yield results similar to a person reading text could, only much faster. (Fletcher, 7/19)