Health Information Compliance Alert
Can You Email Blank Forms To Patients With A Simple 'Okay?'
Question: I work in a pain management clinic, and we want to start sending patients their information by email. Specifically, we want to send an eight-page registration form. Currently, when we send the registration forms, we just ask for the patient’s email address. Should we just ask the patients whether it’s okay to send them these forms via email and document it somewhere on our files that we’ve gotten a verbal okay to email them?
Answer: “Yes, I think that would be a reasonable thing to do,” answers Jim Sheldon-Dean, HIPAA expert and director of compliance services for Lewis Creek Systems LLC in Charlotte, VT.
In this case, you’re just sending patients the forms, which are blank, “so you’re really not revealing too much in that case,” Sheldon-Dean notes. There’s minimal risk involved.
If you just ask the patients for their permission to email and document that they’ve agreed to that, then you can go ahead with the emails and you have that documentation, Sheldon-Dean says. “That seems like a reasonable use.”
Health Information Compliance Alert
- Case Study:
Learn 4 Lessons To Secure Your Backup Tapes
Delayed breach reporting can get you into even more hot water. For HIPAA compliance, it [...] - HIPAA Audits:
Get Ready For Phase 2 Of OCR Audits: Take 7 Steps
Beware: These new audits could lead to civil money penalties. Now that the Phase 1 [...] - Curious? Find Out What Phase 1 OCR Audits Revealed
Security-standard compliance items are a weak spot for providers. If you’re wondering how covered entities [...] - Lawsuits:
How Potential Precedent-Setting Court Ruling Is Good News For You
Could this court decision affect breach lawsuits beyond California? In a major HIPAA-breach lawsuit, an [...] - Reader Question:
Can You Email Blank Forms To Patients With A Simple 'Okay?'
Question: I work in a pain management clinic, and we want to start sending patients [...] - Reader Question:
Does The Privacy Rule Really Allow Disclosures To Family And Friends?
Question: We often have patients’ family members calling our hospital to ask how their loved [...] - Reader Question:
Is Signing NPP Acknowledgement Enough For Communication Permission?
Question: We have one of those text and email appointment-reminder systems in place. And in [...] - Enforcement News:
Make Photography And Recordings Part Of Your HIPAA Policies
Plus: Laptop theft places hospital in treacherous waters. Recent class-action lawsuits have highlighted the extremely [...]
