Schools are increasingly where healthcare happens. Between school nurses, counselors, contracted mental health providers, and telehealth partnerships with external clinicians, K-12 and higher education institutions have become a meaningful part of the healthcare delivery system, especially for students who face barriers to accessing care outside of school.
Telehealth has made this even more possible. With a secure video platform, schools can connect students with licensed therapists, physicians, and specialists without requiring students to leave campus or rely on parents for transportation. For university health centers, it means extending capacity and hours without adding physical space.
But school-based telehealth comes with a compliance landscape that’s more complex than most settings. Understanding how HIPAA and FERPA apply, and where they overlap, is essential before any school or university implements a telehealth program.
HIPAA vs FERPA: What Actually Applies in a School Setting?
This is the question that trips up more school administrators than any other in the telehealth space. The short answer: it depends on who is providing the care and who maintains the records.
FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) governs education records maintained by schools and educational institutions. HIPAA governs health information held by covered entities, healthcare providers who conduct electronic billing transactions. In most K-12 school settings, HIPAA does not apply because the school is not a covered entity, and student health records are education records protected by FERPA.
Where it gets more complicated:
- If an outside provider (such as a contracted telehealth service or an outside therapist) delivers care on school grounds or via a school-facilitated telehealth session, that provider is likely a HIPAA covered entity and must maintain HIPAA-compliant records independently.
- If a university or college health clinic bills insurance electronically, the clinic may be a HIPAA covered entity for the purposes of its non-student patients, even while FERPA governs student records.
- When an outside telehealth provider connects to students through school infrastructure, both FERPA (governing how the school handles the interaction) and HIPAA (governing how the provider handles records) may apply simultaneously.
The U.S. Department of Education and HHS have published joint guidance on FERPA and HIPAA in educational settings, updated in 2019, which is the definitive reference for schools navigating this. The practical implication for telehealth: schools should work with legal counsel when designing their telehealth program, ensure any outside provider uses a HIPAA-compliant platform, and establish clear data-sharing agreements that specify what information flows between the provider and the school.
Use Cases: How Schools Are Using Telehealth Today
Telehealth in schools is not one-size-fits-all. The specific use cases vary by institution type, student population, and existing resources.
K-12 Mental Health Services
The mental health needs of K-12 students have grown substantially. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 1 in 5 K-12 students sought mental health services through school-based programs in the 2024–2025 school year. Telehealth extends the reach of school counselors and enables schools to contract with external licensed therapists to provide services students can access during the school day.
Key operational considerations for K-12 mental health telehealth: parental consent is required for students under 18, privacy within the school building must be ensured (private spaces for sessions), and the platform must be easy enough for students to use without technical support.
School Nurse Consultations
Telehealth enables school nurses to consult with physicians or specialists in real time without sending students off campus. A nurse who has a student with symptoms that may or may not require physician assessment can initiate a video consultation with a medical provider, getting clinical guidance without the disruption of an ER or clinic visit.
Counselor-to-Specialist Connections
School counselors aren’t typically licensed to provide clinical therapy. But they can facilitate a telehealth connection between a student and a licensed external therapist, essentially acting as a coordinator who ensures students can access the clinical support they need.
University and College Health Centers
University health centers use telehealth to extend hours, manage demand spikes (especially around midterms and finals), and provide access to specialists who aren’t available on campus. Students appreciate the convenience of connecting from their dorm room, and health centers appreciate the ability to manage volume without expanding physical space.
Rural and Underserved School Districts
For schools in rural communities or districts with significant provider shortages, telehealth may be the only practical way to deliver mental health or specialty services. A school in a rural county with no local child psychologist can partner with a telehealth provider to give students access to the clinical support they need.
What Schools Need from a Telehealth Platform
School-based telehealth has specific platform requirements that differ from a standard clinical practice:
No app downloads required
Students, especially in K-12, should be able to join a session from a school computer or tablet via a browser link. App download requirements create friction and IT overhead that schools can’t support.
Private, secure sessions
The platform must support session links that are one-time-use or session-specific, preventing unauthorized access. This is especially important when sessions are initiated from shared devices.
Ease of use for non-technical users
School staff and students are not telehealth experts. The platform should require minimal technical setup and include clear instructions for both the school coordinator and the student.
HIPAA compliance for outside providers
Any contracted outside provider delivering telehealth through the school must use a HIPAA-compliant platform with a signed BAA. Schools should verify this before establishing any telehealth partnership.
Secure clinical chat and document exchange
Some school telehealth workflows involve document exchange, consent forms, screening tools, or session notes sent between provider and school coordinator. This requires a platform with secure messaging and file transfer, not just video.
How SecureVideo Serves Schools and Universities
SecureVideo has been serving schools and universities with HIPAA-compliant telehealth infrastructure since 2013. Our platform is purpose-built for the kind of high-security, easy-access sessions that educational settings require:
- One-click, no-download session access for students joining from school devices
- Branded virtual waiting rooms that can be customized for the school or university
- Secure clinical chat for in-session and between-session communication
- E-documents for digital consent collection and intake
- HITRUST r2 certification confirming independently verified security controls
- 24/7 US-based support for both providers and student participants
For universities and larger K-12 programs, our API integration capabilities allow telehealth to be embedded directly into existing student health systems.
Interested in implementing telehealth for your school or university? Contact our team for a consultation tailored to your institution’s specific needs.