Revised July 2002
Email is an efficient and convenient means for patients to communicate with clinicians and clinic staff. However, email communication must be managed properly to be effective. As a current or prospective SHCC Satellite Clinic patient you should be aware of the following facts:
- Most email systems have a low level of security. For example, email messages are typically sent as plain text, which can be read by anyone who intercepts them. This form of communication has been likened to sending information on postcards - anyone who picks them up can read them. The actual risk of having your email intercepted and read by others is small but real. Encrypted email lowers this risk even further, as discussed below.
- Unlike the telephone, email is a non-immediate form of communication (the technical term for this is "asynchronous"). When you send a message there is no guarantee that it will be received or that the reply will find its way back to you. For this reason email can never be a primary means of clinical communication - you must have a backup plan to call or visit the clinic when an email message is delayed or lost.
- Clinical communication is different from typical email use. There are numerous laws and professional rules that come into effect. Clinical email messages are considered part of your medical record and must be handled as such. In our clinic this means that your messages and our replies will be printed and filed with your paper chart.
By using email to communicate with the SHCC Satellite Clinic staff you acknowledge that you understand the issues and risks outlined above, and agree to abide by these guidelines:
- We will generally respond to your message within one to two business days. Keep in mind that there are many reasons this might not occur - illness and vacations for example. There is currently no mechanism for us to "cross cover" email when someone is gone or unavailable.
- If you have not received a response to your email you should either call (392-0627) or visit (D2-52) the clinic during business hours. When the clinic is closed you should contact the infirmary on main campus (392-1161).
- We will include the full text of your original message in our response and send an electronic copy (CC) to the clinic secretary who will print and file it in your paper chart. Once this occurs, the information becomes part of the legal medical record. Certain non-clinical or trivial messages (ie, confirming an appointment) will not be archived in this manner.
- Certain types of information are not appropriate for email. Examples include but are not limited to:
- Anything that is of an urgent or emergent nature;
- Anything that would be highly embarassing or harmful if it became known;
- Anything that involves a third party (such as your spouse);
- Any complaint or accusation.
- Both you and the clinic staff have the right to terminate email communication at any time when issues arise that make it uncomfortable or inappropriate. In these situations you should call or visit the clinic.
- We encourage our patients to use Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) software to encrypt email messages. PGP can be downloaded from www.pgpi.com and other sites on the Web. Dr. Rathe's public key is available at http://rathe.medinfo.ufl.edu/rrpgp.txt. PGP will be used to protect your privacy during email transport only. The messages will continue to be filed in the medical record as plain text.