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This blog post provides links to State and Federal policy updates. If you’re a manager in an organization that provides Human Services, these are updates you’ll want to know about.
Policy Updates
The US Department of Health and Human Services has provided guidance on discretion related to enforcement of HIPAA. What does this mean? Here’s part of what the article says:
“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.”
Pennsylvania has suspended certain professional licensing requirements. What do you need to know? Here’s the main idea.
“Due to the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), additional health care practitioners will be needed to treat ill Pennsylvanians. This need may extend beyond the capacity of the professionals currently licensed by Pennsylvania’s health-licensing boards. To increase the available number of practitioners, the Department of State requested a suspension from Governor Wolf to several provisions that create barriers to temporary licensure.”
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has also expediated policies for behavioral health providers to implement telehealth. Read the letter from Valerie J. Vicari, Acting Deputy Secretary, Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. It clarifies the ability of providers to render telehealth behavioral health services to Medical Assistance (MA) beneficiaries.
Want to know the latest on COVID-19 in the State of Kentucky? This page on the state government website has robust resources. You’ll find interactive maps of the COVID-19 outbreak, statistics on its severity, guidelines, and a contact hotline for more answers.
The County of Santa Clara, CA is fast-tracking telehealth policy for behavioral health providers. Policies and procedures are outlined here.
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