[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 130 (Thursday, July 8, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41264-41265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15539]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[DA 04-1716]


Clarification of the Use of Telecommunications Relay Services 
(TRS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 
(HIPAA)

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission clarifies that the use of 
Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) programs to facilitate 
telephone calls between health care professionals and patients, when 
one of the parties to the call has a hearing or speech disability, does 
not violate the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act (HIPAA). This document also clarifies that, 
consistent with HIPAA, a covered entity, such as a doctor or other 
health care professional, can contact a patient using TRS without 
requiring the TRS facility or individual communications assistants 
(CAs) to sign a disclosure agreement (what HIPAA generally refers to a 
``business associate contract'').

DATES: Effective June 16, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Traci Randolph, (202) 418-0569 
(voice), (202) 418-0537 (TTY), or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Public 
Notice, DA 04-1716 released June 16, 2004.
    The full text of this document is available for public inspection 
and copying during regular business hours at the FCC Reference 
Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, 
Washington, DC 20554. This document may be purchased from the 
Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 
Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. 
Customers may contact BCPI, Inc. at their Web site: http://www.bcpiweb.com or call 1-800-378-3160.
    To request this document in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Consumer & Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). This 
Public Notice can also be downloaded in Word and Portable Formats at 
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro.

Synopsis

    As background, TRS, as mandated by Title IV of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990, makes the telephone system accessible to 
individuals with hearing or speech disabilities. See 47 U.S.C. 225. 
This is accomplished through TRS facilities that are staffed by 
specially trained CAs using special technology. The CA relays 
conversations between persons using various types of assistive 
communication devices and persons who do not require such assistive 
devices. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enacted HIPAA in 
1996, which included provisions mandating the adoption of federal 
privacy protections for individual's health information. See Public Law 
Number 104-191 (1996). In response to the HIPAA mandate, HHS published 
the Privacy Rule, stating that as of April 14, 2003 (April 14, 2004, 
for small health plans), covered entities must implement

[[Page 41265]]

standards to protect and guard against the misuse of individually 
identifiable health information. See 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164. Some 
health professionals have been concerned that contacting patients and 
discussing health related information via TRS poses a possible 
violation of the Privacy Rule because a ``third party,'' the TRS CA, 
hears the information being discussed as the call is relayed. Some 
state TRS facilities have informed the FCC that health professionals 
are requiring all of the facility's CAs to sign disclosure forms before 
they will use TRS to contact patients with hearing or speech 
disabilities.
    We therefore emphasize that all forms of TRS, including 
``traditional'' TTY based relay, Internet Protocol (IP) Relay, Video 
Relay Service (VRS), and Speech-to-Speech (STS), can be used to 
facilitate calls between health care professionals and patients without 
violating HIPPA's Privacy Rule. For further information on this issue 
see HHS's FAQ sheet which is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa 
or on the FCC's Disability Rights Office's Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trs.html.

Federal Communications Commission.
P. June Taylor,
Chief of Staff, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau.
[FR Doc. 04-15539 Filed 7-7-04; 8:45 am]
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