You should NEVER email patient information. It
is a HIPAA violation.
PII or Personally Identifiable Information must
be protected by your practice. Personally
Identifiable Information is any information that
can be used to distinguish or trace an
individuals identity. This includes:
Full Name
Maiden Name
Mother's Maiden Name
Alias
Any Identification Number such as
Social Security Number
Passport Number
Drivers License Number
Taxpayer Identification Number
Credit Card Number
Financial Account Number
CHART NUMBER
Address
Email Address
Personal Characteristics such as
Photographic Images
Fingerprints
Handwriting
Other Biometric Data
Or any other information that could be uniquely
used to identify a patient.
It is probable that you have some identifying
text on the x ray, but even if you do not, the X
ray of the patients foot could be considered a
Personal Characteristic. Your options for sending
the digital picture include:
Burning the picture to a CD and mailing it to the
patient or Putting the image on a USB stick and
mailing it to the patient Sending the image via
ENCRYPTED email, but this can be technically
difficult Either of these two methods would be
compliant with the HIPAA security and privacy
rules.
Michael L. Brody, DPM, Commack, NY,
mbrody@tldsystems.com
