It is virtually inevitable that health care companies will be called upon to preserve, collect, review and produce some portion of their electronic records. Health care companies face unique and complex challenges as they accumulate increasingly large quantities of data in both paper and electronic form. Data management varies among health care entities. Even health care organizations with retention plans struggle to find all of their data. The explosion in recent years in the use of mobile devices and email – from laptops and tablet computers to smart phones and thumb drives – complicates data management in this highly regulated industry.
Steven R. Smith and Sarah E. Swank of the Ober|Kaler Health Care General Counsel Institute hosted this 90-minute webinar, along with litigation attorney James E. Edwards, Jr. and forensics expert and electronic discovery consultant, John Ashley. The presenters discussed how health care organizations can evaluate, implement and monitor a comprehensive approach to gaining control of e-data. They explored data management in various contexts:
- Litigation: E-Discovery and subpoenas
- Regulatory: Government investigations and enforcement and administrative proceedings
- Transactional: Due diligence
In every context, the cost of handling data can be reduced dramatically if the company implements a plan in advance.
This session offered alternative strategies and lessons learned to assist health care organizations in making thoughtful planning decisions that will ultimately yield potentially large cost savings and avoid downstream headaches.