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

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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").