To what extent does and e-mail need to be deindentified currently. We are placing reasonable technical safeguards in place with encyption. We feel that some level of deindentification is still necessary. Is it "reasonable" to include first name last initial such as John S? We are finding it "unreasonable" for us to use only initials because we have individuals with the same initials and it is difficult for our staff to efficiently identify who the individual is referring to.
To explain our situation further, as a home health agency we have therapist provide summary updates on patient progress. They are e-mailed to us for purposes of producing a clean readable document that is forwarded in U.S. mail to the physician. Currently they place patient first name and last initial on the document. No other PHI is present(as summary of progress by itself does not seem to be PHI by the definitions I have seen..please correct me if I am wrong) Knowing our situation, what do others think is reasonable? Is there specific language in the law someone can direct me to? Confidential Information This email message is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed. Unless otherwise indicated or obvious by the nature of this transmittal, the information contained in this email message is privileged and confidential, intended for the use of the intended recipient (or the employee or agent responsible to deliver to the intended recipient), you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message THERAPY 2000 1881 Sylvan Avenue Suite 210 Dallas, Tx 75208 --- The WEDI SNIP listserv to which you are subscribed is not moderated. The discussions on this listserv therefore represent the views of the individual participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WEDI Board of Directors nor WEDI SNIP. If you wish to receive an official opinion, post your question to the WEDI SNIP Issues Database at http://snip.wedi.org/tracking/. These listservs should not be used for commercial marketing purposes or discussion of specific vendor products and services. They also are not intended to be used as a forum for personal disagreements or unprofessional communication at any time. You are currently subscribed to wedi-privacy as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you need to unsubscribe but your current email address is not the same as the address subscribed to the list, please use the Subscribe/Unsubscribe form at http://subscribe.wedi.org
