Dr. S
Answer:Dr. S, you should not communicate by email with any
unauthorized party – so only legal guardians or individuals the patient has consented to you communicating with. Further, you should not communicate by email with any authorized person unless you have confirmed the correct email address! Be sure you know who you are talking to if you are communicating by email and you have the patient's written consent, or legal guardian's consent and confirmation of email address. Remember, once an email goes out, you ave created a permanent and discoverable record!
I recommend you be strict on this policy.
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Provided by Dennis Allen of Emax Medical Billing - Hi Jennifer,
I would like to offer an amendment to Jay Bedovoy’s comments and an addition to the list of potential encrypted email providers:
While Mr. Bedovoy is not technically wrong about Citrix ShareFile, he may have overlooked its integration with Microsoft Outlook. Citrix ShareFile provides an easy-to use button in the Outlook toolbar that allows you to send an encrypted file—just click the button and select the file. Our staff finds it very easy to use when communicating with the medical professionals we serve.
Also worth considering is Microsoft Office 365 email encryption, which is somewhat similar to the offering from ZixCorp. The encryption is included at no extra charge with some of the Office 365 enterprise plans, and it is available as an add-on called “Azure Rights Management” ($2 per user/month) for smaller plans. And yes, Microsoft does provide a business associate agreement.
http://products.office.com/en-us/business/officeThank you for your newsletter.
--Dennis
Dennis Allen, CHBME
Dennis@EmaxMedicalBilling.com603-924-7797 x501
Emax Medical Billing LLC
www.EmaxMedicalBilling.comToll-Free: (877) 924-7797
The information contained in this comment is Dennis' opinion and is not the opinion of K&K, nor has the information contained been independently confirmed. K&K (and Jennifer) recommends all readers perform their own due diligence before selecting an encryption method.