Issue 028. Get E&O weekly. | Subscribe | Digital health research from Brian Dolan.

Welcome to E&O.

Last week's newsletter had an encouraging 64 percent open rate. Here's what's happening this week:

• This issue's intro section is dedicated to the snowballing Google-Ascension story, which first got rolling with a breathless report in The Wall Street Journal over what seemed at first blush to be a not-terribly-uncommon BAA health data deal.
• After the story hit, the HHS Office of Civil Rights announced an investigation into the deal to determine if they've followed the letter of HIPAA. Congressional members quickly called for a hearing broader in scope that would look into whether Big Tech companies were complying with HIPAA. The hullabaloo also reignited calls for a new law that would govern how health-related data not covered by HIPAA could be shared or purchased, including data from