What are the risk management issues surrounding the use of e-mail for patient information?
E-mail should be treated as formally as medical record documentation. The speed and convenience make e-mail a valuable tool for clinicians. However, its use raises some special areas of concern: • Consider e-mail containing patient information official correspondence. Before sending, check messages for accuracy and appropriate language. Flippant or humorous messages may look disrespectful when viewed later, out of context. • Assume that e-mail messages (even deleted ones) are discoverable • (i.e., can be requested by an opposing attorney during a legal investigation) unless they were between the physician and a risk manager, attorney, or insurance company representative. Messages sent to friends and colleagues are not protected. • Safeguarding the confidentiality of e-mail messages exchanged with patients is difficult. Confidentiality can be breached by outsiders (hackers) or by patients and physicians themselves who Reply to or Forward messages to individuals outside the patient/physi
