Ten years ago few providers or patients knew much about telehealth. State regulators and medical boards had few if any rules about using tele-health. In fact there were issues surrounding the lack of a physical examination using tele-health. However because broadband internet has become more available except in rural areas it is possible to talk and view patients in real time.
There are now commercial vendors that offer these services to any providers wishing to adopt tele-health for their practices. Some of these have become public companies.
Zoom can be deemed a HIPAA compliant web and video conferencing service that is appropriate for use in healthcare, provided a HIPAA-covered body completes a business associate agreement with Zoom prior to using the service. Zoom has already been put in place by many healthcare groups worldwide who use the platform to interact with other providers and communicate with patients. However, in the USA healthcare groups must adhere with HIPAA Regulations.
Zoom, as a business associate, would need to complete a contract with a HIPAA covered body before its service can be used with ePHI. That agreement – a Business Associate Agreement – acts as a confirmation that Zoom is aware of its obligations in relation to the privacy and security of PHI.
Zoom is willing to complete a business associate agreement with healthcare groups and has ensured that its platform includes all of the required security controls to meet the strict requirements of HIPAA.
In April 2017 Zoom revealed that it had introduced the first scalable cloud-based tele-health service for the healthcare sector. Zoom for Telehealth allows enterprises and providers to communicate simply with other group, care teams, and patients in a HIPAA compliant fashion.
A HIPAA compliance agreement must be signed by a medical practice with Zoom.com which defines HIPAA security, privacy and confidentiality issues.
Only until recently the rules and regulations governing telemedicine were not well defined by regulators leaving users open to criticism and possible vulnerable to medico-legal issues.
You will find here the state by state rules at the present day, January 1, 2019.
Physicians should otherwise use their own judgment as to how to use tele-health and instruct patients as to it's limitations and seek direct provider contact. A tele-health portal should have a sign in agreement with instructions, precautions, and suitable waivers.
Current State Laws and Reimbursement Policies | CCHP Website
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