The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- United States (federal); Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights
- Level
- Federal
- Authority
- HIPAA, Pub. L. 104-191, and HITECH Act; 45 C.F.R. parts 160 and 164; enforcement discretion under 42 U.S.C. 1320d-5 and 45 C.F.R. 160.402
- Issued
- 2020-03-17 Mar. 17, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-03-17 (Federal Register publication Apr. 21, 2020) (read as 2020-03-17)
- End
- 2023-05-11 (expiration of the PHE; 90-day transition to Aug. 9, 2023 per 88 Fed. Reg. 22380) (read as 2023-05-11)
- In force
- Mar. 17, 2020 to May 11, 2023
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Telework mandateHealth care ordersOther
- Addressees
- covered health care providers
- business associates (video communication vendors)
- Functions reached
- TM telehealth under waivers
- CL clinical intake
- OF billing and administration
- CB patients
- PR elective visits converted to remote
- Collection
- Other federal health agencies AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER
Operative words
OCR will exercise its enforcement discretion and will not impose penalties for noncompliance with the regulatory requirements under the HIPAA Rules against covered health care providers in connection with the good faith provision of telehealth during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.... Under this notification, however, OCR will not impose penalties against covered health care providers for the lack of a BAA with video communication vendors or any other noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules that relates to the good faith provision of telehealth services during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.
Enforcement
Civil money penalties under 42 U.S.C. 1320d-5 and 45 C.F.R. 160.404 suspended for the covered conduct; the notification is the legal predicate that made the compelled substitution of remote visits for in-person care lawful under HIPAA
Notes
Names FaceTime, Facebook Messenger video chat, Google Hangouts video, Zoom and Skype as permitted non-public-facing products; predicate for every physician, dental, behavioral-health, home-health and hospital practice that moved visits to remote platforms in 2020-2021.
Retrieval noteThe HHS web notification of Mar. 17, 2020 (hhs.gov) is blocked to automated retrieval (HTTP 403); the Federal Register text is the official publication and carries the Mar. 17, 2020 effective date.