Committee advances bill allowing telehealth recordings if patient and provider consent
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Summary
A legislative committee voted 10–0 (1 absent) to report H.84 out of committee; the bill would amend the telehealth recording prohibition to allow recordings when both patient and provider consent, while retaining HIPAA and informed‑consent guardrails.
A legislative committee on Tuesday voted to report H.84, a bill that would permit recording of telehealth encounters when both the patient and the provider agree.
Jen Harvey of the Office of Legislative Council told members that existing statutes define telemedicine as “the delivery of health care services, including dental services, such as diagnosis, consultation, or treatment through the use of live interactive audio and video over a secure connection that complies with the requirements of HIPAA.” She said H.84 would amend the current prohibition on creating recordings of telemedicine or telephone consultations to allow a recording when both patient and provider consent.
Why it matters: Supporters said the change will help providers and patients document care and improve access, including for mental‑health follow‑up, while critics on the committee urged caution about operationalizing consent and the privacy implications of new recording practices.
Committee members pressed on how consent would be handled in practice. Harvey noted that statutes already require providers to obtain and document a patient’s oral or written informed consent at the first episode of care and that providers must document clinical appropriateness for audio‑only services. Several members raised concerns about whether oral consent is sufficiently robust given emerging AI voice‑replication technology and whether written consent requirements would be practical for remote encounters.
One member summarized the patient experience to underscore support for telehealth: the chair described a recent telephone visit that included photo uploads and a follow‑up call and called it “exactly the way quality, accessible, affordable health care is supposed to be.”
The committee moved H.84 as introduced. The clerk recorded a roll call vote of 10 yes, 0 no, 1 absent; Daisy Berbecco was assigned to report the bill. The chair said the bill is expected to be on the floor for the committee’s next reading later in the week.
Next steps: H.84 was reported out of committee and is expected to be scheduled for further floor action; committee members also signaled interest in addressing broader AI and identity‑verification issues in future bills.