| electronic
mail (HIPAA)
Patients may request
email exchange of health information nonetheless, given the
convenience, and HIPAA does now not ban the practice. Patients
should be informed that security cannot be guaranteed, and
that postal service mail is preferable for sensitive infomation.
Note that unlike
unencrypted electronic mail exchange, telephone conversations
can generally be considered safe from interception. (It is
a federal crime to "tap" a telephone line; taps
by law enforcement personnel require a court order.) It is
safer to convey information over the phone than via unencrypted
email.
If electronic mail
is used to exchange substantive health information with a
patient, copies of the messages should be kept as part of
the patient's health record (see designated
records set (HIPAA)).
See also:
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