About Us | Chapters | Advertising | Join
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced that the Notifications of Enforcement Discretion issued during the COVID-19 public health emergency will expire at 11:59 p.m. on May 11, 2023, due to the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. The OCR is providing a 90-calendar day transition period for covered health care providers to come into compliance with the HIPAA Rules pertaining to the provision of telehealth services. The transition period will be in effect beginning on May 12, 2023 and will expire at 11:59 p.m. on August 9, 2023.
HIPAA requires that “covered entities” follow the HIPAA Security Rule, including obtaining a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) from a Telehealth vendor when offering telehealth services. On March 17, 2020, the OCR issued a Notice that it will not impose penalties against covered entities for the lack of a BAA or for any other noncompliance with HIPAA rules that relate to the provision of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. That means that a provider who needs to provide Telehealth services to their patients during this time may use platforms that would otherwise not be “HIPAA-compliant” such as Facetime or Skype. Providers may use other popular applications that allow for private video chats, including Facebook Messenger video chat, Skype, or Google Chat video to provide Telehealth without risk that the OCR will penalize the provider. For resources on Telehealth, visit CAMFT’s Telehealth Corner.
For more information about the end of the state of emergency in California and its implications for MFTs, review CAMFT’s article at Looking Forward by Looking Back.
Return to Newsletter