Health Information Compliance Alert

Make sure your practice's contact info is on every e-mail.

Medical offices that use e-mail to interact with patients can increase efficiency in the communication department, but those offices also run the risk of violating patient Protected Health Information (PHI).

Problem: To stay safe, medical offices should put some sort of disclaimer in each e-mail message, just in case the e-mail goes to the wrong party -- but staffers will not have time to type in the confidentiality disclaimer information each time they send an e-mail.

Solution: Formulate a generic e-mail disclaimer and include it on all e-mails. Make sure that you put the disclaimer at the bottom of the office e-mail template, so the information goes out with all correspondences.

Try this: If you are having trouble getting your disclaimer started, check this one out, courtesy of Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting in Los Angeles. When formulating your template, remember: Your practice's name, address and any other contact information must accompany the disclaimer on your generic e-mail template:

This e-mail correspondence contains information that is or may be LEGALLY PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY IN NATURE OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED BY LAW FROM DISCLOSURE, and is intended only for the use of the addressee[s] named herein.

If you are not the intended recipient, an addressee, or he person responsible for delivering this to an addressee, you are hereby notified that reading, using, copying or distributing any part of this message is strictly prohibited.

If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact us immediately and take the steps necessary to destroy the e-mail completely.