Keeping Telepsychiatry HIPAA Compliant

Clinicians who use telepsychiatry should remain diligent in staying within the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliance guidelines when the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency (PHE) declaration ends, said Psych Congress Steering Committee member Steven Chan, MD, MBA, during a live Q&A session at the recent Psych Congress Regionals virtual meeting. 

Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC moderated the “Ask the Experts” discussion with Dr Chan addressing best practices for providing telehealth care.

Dr Chan recommends, “just being prepared with your software infrastructure to make sure that business associates agreements are in place so that you are still HIPAA compliant when the PHE ends and that any such software for signing documents or sending messages to patients, and to others, is also HIPAA compliant.”

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Department of Health and Human Services declared that they would not exercise enforcement discretion for HIPAA-compliant technologies. This guideline allowed clinicians and patients to use personal messaging services that were not HIPAA compliant, Dr Chan told virtual attendees.

Similar Barriers to Telehealth Reported Among Mental Healthcare Providers

Dr Chan recommends that clinicians periodically check medical news sources, with their malpractice insurance or risk management department, or relevant mailing lists, for updates on any upcoming changes with the PHE declaration and compliance. He reminded attendees that they should have enough time to prepare for any changes since “the White House has signaled that they will give about 60 days heads up before the PHE-declared end date.”

Many clinicians may continue to use telehealth and even permanently shift to hybrid or fully remote treatment, Dr Chan suggests.

“So many folks have had the ability to reduce no-shows and increase access to telepsychiatry telehealth through using video technologies, but also with the ability to use other messaging and communication platforms, we've been able to do more,” says Dr Chan. “And I think that it's really opened up people's eyes on the potential for these technologies.”

—Meagan Thistle

Reference

Chan S. Ask the expert: telepsychiatry. Presented at: Psych Congress Regional; June 25-26, 2021; Virtual.