Providers of substance use disorder and mental health services have worked rapidly to make sure their patients have access to the care they need during the COVID-19 pandemic and after, including by offering more services through telehealth. As part of this rapid transition, both clients and providers express concerns about maintaining patient privacy in virtual visits. The resources in this section contain steps for patients and providers to protect client privacy.
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During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sought to increase access to treatment by issuing guidance on the use of remote communication technologies, including audio-only technology (e.g.,Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and mobile technologies that use electronic media such as the internet, intra-and extranets, cellular, and Wi-Fi), to provide telehealth2 in compliance with HIPAA. While the PHE ended on May 11, 2023, OCR’s guidance on the use of audio-only technology for telehealth remains in effect.
During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sought to increase patient access to telehealth services by waiving penalties for violations of certain requirements under HIPAA. OCR also provided flexibility for sharing patient identifying protected heath information (PHI) for public health purposes. With the end of PHE, these measures have expired.