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Committee hears bill to permit recording telehealth visits with patient and provider consent
Summary
Senate Health and Welfare reviewed H84, which would allow recording of telehealth appointments — audio or video — if both the patient and provider consent; supporters say recordings help clinicians complete notes and reduce administrative burden, while the committee sought clarification on HIPAA safeguards.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee reviewed H84 on March 18, a bill that would allow telehealth appointments — including audio‑only and live audio‑video telemedicine — to be recorded if both the patient and the provider consent.
Representative Daisy Rebecca, a House cosponsor, told the committee that expanded telehealth during the COVID‑19 pandemic improved access to care, particularly for mental health services, and argued recordings help clinicians “go back and accurately, complete their notes” and reduce administrative burden for providers.
Harvey of the Office of Legislative Council explained the bill’s scope, saying the change would add explicit permission for recordings in existing telehealth provisions and applies to both live interactive telemedicine and audio‑only telephone encounters; he distinguished those services from asynchronous “store and forward” exchanges, which H84 does not include. “This would add in both cases unless both the patient and the provider consent to the recording,” Harvey said.
Committee members asked whether in‑person visits already allow recordings and whether recordings must meet privacy and security requirements. Sponsors and counsel confirmed there is no prohibition on recording in face‑to‑face visits and that HIPAA confidentiality and data‑security obligations continue to apply to telehealth recordings.
The sponsor said the bill had broad support in committee in the House and that the House floor vote was by voice. The committee did not take a vote at this meeting; the chair said the panel will schedule testimony and gather data to support any decision before moving forward.
The committee set no final deadline at the meeting; members requested further testimony and indicated they would schedule stakeholder witnesses before taking action.
