OCR to waive potential HIPAA penalties during COVID-19 emergency

March 18, 2020

On Tuesday, March 17, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it will waive potential HIPAA penalties against health care providers using telehealth services to care for patients during the COVID-19 national emergency. 

According to the OCR, "This exercise of discretion applies to widely available communications apps, such as FaceTime or Skype, when used in good faith for any telehealth treatment or diagnostic purpose, regardless of whether the telehealth service is directly related to COVID-19."

Read the full press release here.

COVID-19 resources
This is a developing issue, and we encourage you to use the following resources to stay informed with the most up-to-date and reliable information:

• Texas Medical Association (TMA) COVID-19 Resource Center
• Texas Medical Board (TMB) COVID-19 page
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 resource page
• Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) COVID-19 webpage
• The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) COVID-19 projections
• Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
• TMLT Resource Hub - Coronavirus updates and resources