RE: E-mail

["Grau, Barry" <Grau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sending patient information by e-mail is an instance of Release of
Information. It should already be covered by your Release of Information
policy. Your institution may also have a policy regarding usage of
computer systems in general. We do, and everyone with access to any
computer system has to sign a statement explaining it to them and agree
to abide by it. It is general enough to cover e-mail.

BTW, I did have to explain to my boss's boss why I receive several
hundred Internet e-mail messages per week. (Midrange-l, primarily)

-bwg

Barry Grau (grau@uic.edu)
UIC Medical Center 
Information Technology Services
809 S Marshfield Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60612

> ----------
> From:         Peter Coffin[SMTP:phcoffin@us.ibm.com]
> Sent:         Tuesday, September 23, 1997 12:21 PM
> To:   MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject:      Re: E-mail
> 
> Joanie writes:
> 
> 
> > My biggest concern is my users sending confidential information via
> e-mail,
> > this could range from patient test results and/or diagnosis, to the
> wage
> > rate of an employee......   maybe I'm too worried, but I'd prefer to
> think
> > that my e-mail system is just scheduling meetings/lunches, or asking
> simple
> > questions, not sending patient information .....
> 
> "Sending Patient, Personnel, or other confidential information over
> e-mail
> is forbidden." Having forbidden it, if you have reason to believe that
> confidential information has been sent by means *other than* sniffing
> packets or scanning user mail boxes, then you can still nail the user
> to a
> tree. A policy about appropriate methods of delivering confidential
> information is a *different* issue from a policy about appropriate
> uses
> of e-mail, and letting yourself get confused over which statement goes
> into
> which policy is serious trouble.
> 
> 
> Peter H. Coffin
> phcoffin@us.ibm.com
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