[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 237 (Wednesday, December 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73312-73314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28969]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 132 3088]


PaymentsMD, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public 
Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting deceptive acts or practices. The 
attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations 
in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in 
the consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 2, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/paymentsmdllcconsent online or on paper, 
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``PaymentsMD, LLC--
Consent Agreement; File No. 132 3088'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/paymentsmdllcconsent by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``PaymentsMD, 
LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 132 3088'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacqueline Connor, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202-326-2844), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR Sec.  
2.34, notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for December 3, 2014), on the World Wide Web, 
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before January 2, 2015. 
Write ``PaymentsMD, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 132 3088'' on your 
comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be 
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.

[[Page 73313]]

    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/paymentsmdllcconsent by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you 
also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``PaymentsMD, LLC--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 132 3088'' on your comment and on the envelope, and 
mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite CC-5610 
(Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street, SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before January 2, 2015. You can find more 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in 
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission has accepted, subject to final 
approval, a consent order applicable to PaymentsMD, LLC 
(``PaymentsMD'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final 
the agreement's proposed order.
    PaymentsMD's principal line of business is the delivery of 
electronic billing records and the collection of accounts receivable 
for medical providers. In December 2011, PaymentsMD launched a free 
``Patient Portal'' product that enabled consumers to pay their bills 
and to view their balance, payments made, adjustments taken, and 
information for other service dates.
    The Commission's complaint alleges that PaymentsMD deceived 
consumers regarding the collection of consumers' sensitive health 
information from third parties. In June 2012, PaymentsMD entered into 
an agreement with Metis Health LLC (``Metis Health'') to develop an 
entirely new service called Patient Health Report, a fee-based service 
that would enable consumers to access, review, and manage their 
consolidated health records through a Patient Portal account. In order 
to populate the Patient Health Report, PaymentsMD obtained consumers' 
authorization to collect sensitive health information for one purpose--
to track their medical bills--and then used that authority to attempt 
to collect a massive amount of sensitive health information, including 
treatment information, from third parties without consumers' knowledge 
or consent. Based on such authorization, sensitive health information 
about everyone who registered for the Patient Portal was then requested 
from a large number of health plans, pharmacies, and a medical lab.
    The first count of the Commission's complaint alleges that 
PaymentsMD represented that consumers registering for their free 
Patient Portal billing service could access and review their medical 
payment history, but failed to disclose adequately that PaymentsMD 
would also engage in a comprehensive collection of consumers' sensitive 
health information for a Patient Health Report. The second count 
alleges that PaymentsMD deceptively represented that the consumers' 
authorizations were to be used exclusively to provide the billing 
service.
    The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent 
PaymentsMD from engaging in the future in practices similar to those 
alleged in the complaint. Part I prohibits PaymentsMD from making any 
future misrepresentation regarding the extent to which it uses, 
maintains, and protects the privacy, confidentiality, and security of 
covered information collected from or about consumers, including but 
not limited to: (1) The services for which consumers are being enrolled 
as part of any sign-up process; (2) the extent to which PaymentsMD will 
share covered information with, or seek covered information from, third 
parties; and (3) the purpose(s) for which covered information collected 
from third parties will be used. Part II requires PaymentsMD to clearly 
and prominently disclose its practices regarding the collection, use, 
storage, disclosure or sharing of health information prior to seeking 
authorization to collect health information from a third party. 
PaymentsMD must also obtain affirmative express consent from consumers 
prior to collecting health information from a third party.
    Part III prohibits PaymentsMD from using, collecting, or permitting 
any third party to use or collect any covered information pursuant to 
any authorization obtained prior to the date of the order from 
consumers registering for the Patient Portal, except for the purpose of 
offering health-related bill-payment or bill history services. 
PaymentsMD also must, within sixty days, delete all covered information 
that was collected in relation to the Patient Health Report service. 
(PaymentsMD need not destroy the information related

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to the bill-payment or bill history services that consumers actually 
signed up for.)
    Parts IV through VIII of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part IV requires PaymentsMD to retain documents 
relating to its compliance with the order. The order requires that 
PaymentsMD retain all of the documents for a five-year period. Part V 
requires dissemination of the order now and in the future to all 
current and future subsidiaries, principals, officers, directors, and 
managers, and to persons with responsibilities relating to the subject 
matter of the order. Part VI ensures notification to the FTC of changes 
in corporate status. Part VII mandates that PaymentsMD submit a 
compliance report to the FTC within 60 days, and periodically 
thereafter as requested. Part VIII is a provision ``sunsetting'' the 
order after twenty (20) years, with certain exceptions.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-28969 Filed 12-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P