OCR’s COVID-19 Telehealth Enforcement Discretion Transition Period Ends
At 11.59 pm on August 9, 2023, the transition period for ensuring telehealth services are fully HIPAA-compliant came to an end. Healthcare providers must now ensure that their telehealth services are provided using platforms that are fully compliant with the HIPAA Rules.
The enforcement discretion policy was initiated for telehealth in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. OCR announced that it would not impose sanctions and penalties for HIPAA violations in connection with the good faith provision of telehealth services, provided non-public facing remote communications technologies were used for providing telehealth services. That meant that communications platforms that would not normally be permitted under HIPAA could be used for providing telehealth services, such as platforms provided by vendors who would not sign business associate agreements covering their products.
The enforcement discretion period was in effect for the duration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE); however, when the PHE came to an end, OCR announced there would be a 90-day transition period to give healthcare providers time to ensure their communication tools were made HIPAA-compliant or transition to an alternative communications tool that is fully compliant with the HIPAA Rules. Now that the enforcement discretion period and the transition period are over, healthcare providers must only use fully compliant communications tools for providing telehealth services or risk financial penalties.
OCR has published guidance to help healthcare providers provide audio-only telehealth services and ensure compliance with the HIPAA Rules. The guidance includes answers to commonly asked questions with respect to HIPAA and telehealth and can be viewed on the HHS website.
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