When HHS relaxed HIPAA penalties against hospitals and health systems, the department also granted providers the opportunity to communicate with patients and provide telehealth services through nonpublic-facing remote communication services.
The HHS Office of Civil Rights "is exercising its enforcement discretion to not impose penalties for noncompliance with the HIPAA rule in connection with the good faith provision of telehealth using such nonpublic-facing audio or video communication products during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency," HHS stated.
Here are the platforms physicians can use:
- Apple FaceTime
- Facebook Messenger video chat
- Google Hangouts video
- Zoom
- Skype
Here are the platforms physicians can't use:
- Facebook Live
- Twitch
- Tik Tok
To learn more, click here.