HIPAA

  • OCR Notice of HIPAA Enforcement Discretion For Telehealth:  The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Notification of Enforcement Discretion for telehealth services during the COVID-19 national emergency. The notice describes how OCR will exercise its enforcement discretion to not impose penalties for noncompliance with the regulatory requirements under the HIPAA Rules against covered health care providers in connection with the good faith provision of telehealth during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.
  • Providers can use any audio or video non-public facing remote communication product that is available to communicate with patients;
  • Facebook Live, Twitch, TikTok, and similar video communication applications are public facing, and should not be used in the provision of telehealth by covered health care providers;
  • Providers are encouraged to notify patients that these third-party applications potentially introduce privacy risks, and providers should enable all available encryption and privacy modes when using such applications; and
  • Providers are to exercise professional judgment in the use of telehealth examinations.