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Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible” film series was launched back in 1996. Every few years since, new “MI” movies have updated the franchise while sticking to its core action-intrigue values.

Also debuting that year: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). While many in the healthcare industry believe the federal law protecting sensitive patient health information needs to be modernized, there are provider group concerns about the following:

• The privacy and security of sensitive medical data when it’s made more accessible
• Implementing changes during a pandemic
• Squaring the changes with other data-restricting

The potential for abuse and addiction involving controlled substance medications makes it of paramount importance for doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and other health care providers to comply with laws and regulations enforced by the federal government’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Providers that administer and dispense controlled substance medications have dealt with unprecedented challenges over the past year, but the challenge to be DEA-compliant remains unchanged. However, the agency has issued guidelines related to pandemic-specific vaccines and other matters that add to the compliance burden.

Here are areas of concern for providers to be aware