Third-party tracking, typically installed on websites to add functionality, is lightly regulated. On hospital websites, third-party tracking is not subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) when observing people’s browsing behavior across hospital websites.

In their new Health Affairs article, Ari Friedman and coauthors find that nearly all hospitals allow third parties to capture data about how patients and other users navigate their websites.

Hospital website home pages initiate a median of sixteen data transfers to numerous third parties, "including some of the largest technology and social media companies, advertising firms, and data brokers."

The authors outline specific policy recommendations in their article, asserting that policy makers should address tracking in proposed privacy legislation that builds on the framework of the American Data Protection and Privacy Act.

Coauthor Matthew McCoy will appear on tomorrow’s episode of A Health Podyssey to discuss this research and the implications for hospitals and policy makers.

Today in Forefront, Katie Schenk and coauthors draw on their lived experiences as frontline public health professionals before and throughout the COVID-19 response to discuss the urgent need to reimagine a public health workforce.

Strains on the public health workforce were recently highlighted in the March issue of Health Affairs, and to accompany the issue, we held a Lunch and Learn discussing the workforce exodus in state and local public health.

If you missed the event, you can access the recording on our YouTube page. Health Affairs is grateful to the de Beaumont Foundation for making this Insider event available to everyone.

About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.

Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.

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