The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- United States (federal); Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights
- Level
- Federal
- Authority
- HIPAA Rules, 45 C.F.R. parts 160 and 164; enforcement discretion
- Issued
- 2021-01-19 Jan. 19, 2021
- Effective
- 2020-12-11 (retroactive) (read as 2020-12-11)
- End
- 2023-05-11
- In force
- Dec. 11, 2020 to May 11, 2023
- Quarters
- 2020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Health care ordersOther
- Addressees
- covered health care providers
- business associates (scheduling-application vendors)
- Functions reached
- FD front desk and scheduling
- OF administration
- CB patients
- Collection
- Other federal health agencies AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER
Operative words
This Notification of Enforcement Discretion went into effect on December 11, 2020, and will remain in effect until the Secretary of HHS determines that the public health emergency no longer exists... OCR will exercise its enforcement discretion and will not impose penalties for noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules on covered health care providers or their business associates in connection with the good faith use of online or web-based scheduling applications... for the limited purpose of scheduling individual appointments for COVID-19 vaccination during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.
Enforcement
HIPAA civil money penalties suspended for the described conduct
Notes
Predicate for pharmacies, clinics, health systems and employers' occupational-health providers that scheduled vaccinations through consumer applications in 2021.