Telemedicine for Diabetes After the COVID-19 Pandemic: We Can’t Put the Toothpaste Back in the Tube or Turn Back the Clock

摘要

Since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred many of us have changed our practice from seeing diabetes patients in person to communicating with patients and sharing remote access to sensor platform dashboards by way of video telemedicine.1 The transition has been facilitated by new policies from the US government. I have learned that when the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) eased up on regulation of telemedicine, then this practice could thrive. On March 17, 2020, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a Notification of Enforcement Discretion regarding COVID-19 and remote telehealth communications because of the current public health emergency.2 This policy means that OCR will waive potential penalties for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations against healthcare providers that serve patients through everyday communication technologies during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency. OCR is the government agency that enforces HIPAA, which regulates privacy of protected health information (PHI) at covered entities.3 Traditionally OCR has regulated strictly to guard privacy; however, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency is allowing some systems to be used without clearly documented privacy controls. Thus, patients and healthcare professionals, who are both quarantined, can now legally communicate using many video or texting systems.