The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued two resource documents to help explain to patients the privacy and security risks to their protected health information (PHI) when using telehealth services and ways to reduce these risks.

The first resource is for health care providers to educate patients about privacy and security risks when using telehealth. The second resource is to help providers educate patients. While it is not a HIPAA requirement that providers educate patients but, as telehealth becomes more widely used, OCR felt it was important to give providers the tools to talk with patients. This resource provides recommendations that patients can use to protect and secure their health information.