Maintaining HIPAA Compliance and Protecting Patient Data via Telehealth
The urgent need for telehealth services at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic led to temporary flexibility in the enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). But what should telepsychiatry providers know about maintaining HIPAA compliance today?
In this video filmed at Psych Congress Elevate 2025, Edward Kaftarian, MD, Steering Committee, Psych Congress, provides an update on the current state of HIPAA requirements for clinicians practicing via telehealth. In light of increasing data breaches, he also discusses the need for heightened security to protect patient data when practicing telemedicine.
For more expert insights, visit the Telehealth Excellence Forum.
Save the date for the 10th annual Psych Congress Elevate in Las Vegas, NV, from June 3 to 6, 2026! For more information and to register, visit the meeting website.
Key Takeaways for Clinical Practice:
- With COVID-19 pandemic-era enforcement flexibility ended in the US, HIPAA is fully in effect, requiring healthcare professionals to use HIPAA-compliant platforms and rigorously protect patient data and confidentiality across all care settings.
- Data breaches are increasing rapidly, with approximately 75%–80% of the top 100 all-time breaches by individuals affected occurring within the last 2-3 years, heightening risk and enforcement concerns for healthcare organizations.
- Telehealth providers should conduct video visits only on HIPAA-compliant platforms and partner with organizations that demonstrably prioritize data security to protect patient information.
Read the Transcript
Edward Kaftarian, MD: My name is Dr Edward Kaftarian. I'm a psychiatrist, board-certified in forensic psychiatry and addiction medicine, and I'm on the steering committee for Psych Congress. I'm also the chairman and CEO of Orbit Health Telepsychiatry.
Psych Congress Network: How have HIPAA requirements and enforcement changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, and what should clinicians be doing now to remain compliant and protect patient data when providing telehealth services?
Kaftarian: As providers, of course we all know what HIPAA is—it protects patient data and confidentiality. You may know that during the COVID-19 pandemic, those HIPAA laws were more flexible. For a lack of a better term, the government said, “Do the best you can, and we're going to selectively enforce HIPAA.”
Those days are over. Now that the pandemic is over, you need to make sure that you are practicing medicine on HIPAA-compliant platforms. It's really important that you make sure that you protect patient data as well as the appointment.
Something to be concerned about is that data breaches have been happening at a faster pace than ever before. If you look at the top 100 all-time data breaches in terms of the number of individuals affected, probably about 75-80% of them happened within the last several years or so.
What I'm trying to explain is that data breaches are happening at a much higher rate, so you need to be even more careful to work with organizations that protect data and do things the right way. Try to avoid an organization that doesn't do their very best to protect data security and [ensure providers are] seeing patients over video on a compliant platform.
Overall, HIPAA is in full effect, and you need to be quite careful about protecting patient data.
Edward Kaftarian, MD, is a preeminent authority in the field of Telepsychiatry. He holds a distinguished seat on the Telepsychiatry Committee of the American Psychiatric Association and is a member of the Steering Committee for Psych Congress, the United States' largest independent mental health educational conference. Additionally, Dr Kaftarian is a prominent speaker on the rules and regulations governing telehealth. Dr Kaftarian completed his psychiatry training at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University and holds board certifications in Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine.
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Any views and opinions expressed above are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of the Psych Congress Network or HMP Global, their employees, and affiliates.
