Feds Will Not Enforce Use Of HIPAA-Compliant Telehealth Platforms During COVID-19

On March 17, 2020, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency, penalties would not be imposed on provider organizations that offer telehealth services using popular video chat applications that may not fully comply with the privacy requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The enforcement discretion will last for the COVID-19 public health emergency. It will extend to telehealth services provided for any reason regardless of whether the telehealth service is related to the diagnosis . . .