OCR Waives Enforcement of Penalties for Good Faith Use of Online or Web-Based Scheduling Applications for COVID-19 Vaccination Appointments

On January 19, 2021, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it is waiving penalties otherwise enforceable against covered entities and their business associates for potential HIPAA violations related to the good faith use of online or web-based scheduling applications for COVID-19 vaccination appointments. OCR encourages the use of reasonable safeguards to protect the privacy and security of individuals’ protected health information (PHI), such as using only the minimum necessary PHI, utilizing encryption technology, and enabling all available privacy settings. More information can be found in the official Notification.