After the expiration of the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023, the US Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) extended the exercise of its enforcement discretion, allowing providers to continue using non-HIPAA-compliant telehealth services for an additional 90-day period.
That enforcement discretion period closed on August 9, 2023.
In the early days of the public health emergency, providers had to quickly adapt to seeing patients virtually. To protect the patient-provider relationship and ensure public safety, OCR exercised its enforcement discretion to allow non-HIPAA–compliant services to be used for patient care.
We’ve come a long way since the start of the pandemic. Now patients and providers are comfortable integrating virtual visits as one modality within their care practice. While we’ve seen most bookings for most specialties revert back to in-person visits, patients still value the convenience of booking a telehealth appointment for specific visit reasons.
If you use a non-HIPAA–compliant telehealth platform based on OCR’s prior guidance, now is the time to switch.
Zocdoc purpose-built Zocdoc Video Service to be HIPAA-compliant and to last far beyond the pandemic. Contact us to learn more.
This information should not be construed as legal advice. The contents are intended for general informational purposes only, and you should consult your attorney before taking any action based on the contents herein.