Download PDF file of this page.
What is Southwest's Secure E-mail?
A secure e-mail message system that meets all patient confidentiality laws and regulations. Secure e-mail is not to be used for urgent or sensitive care issues.
For full information about secure e-mail, go to http://www.swmedicalcenter.org/body.cfm?id=3454. You may refer patients to this web site.
Read the detailed manual in HTML or PDF format
Creating secure e-mail
- Secure E-mail is an ‘outbound' secure messaging
feature that works with Microsoft Exchange e-mail service.
- Allows secure communication with patients,
partners, government agencies, or anyone with whom we need to secure our
e-mail communications.
- You must generate the secure e-mail. Attachments
and replies related to this email will also be secure and fully encrypted.
- As the e-mail is generated within Southwest, you should not request additional identifying patient information.
- Microsoft Outlook will automatically scan your e-mail
to determine if it contains confidential information that must be secured.
Confidential information may include, but is not limited to, PHI, financial,
SSN.
- You may also identify an e-mail to be secured by
typing [SECURE] in the subject line. Note: To ensure encryption, ‘secure' must
be in brackets [ ]. The word is not case sensitive.
- Other than the exceptions listed here, use secure
e-mail just as you would regular e-mail.
- For detailed information on how to use the service, go to http://www.swmedicalcenter.org/body.cfm?id=3493.
Saving secure e-mails
- To save the e-mail, use Select All from the menu bar
on your browser (Explorer, Netscape, etc.). Copy the email and paste it into a
word processing document.
- Important: When you
save the information to your computer, the saved file on your computer is no
longer secure, so use caution when saving.
- Once a secure message has been deleted, it cannot be
retrieved.
- Secure messages are automatically deleted 24 hours after you read it.
What happens to unopened e-mail?
-
If an e-mail is not opened within 24 hours of it being sent, you and the recipient will receive a notice.
-
The patient may request that you notify them when you receive their email. There is no automatic notification when replies are received.
-
If your email is ‘undeliverable', Outlook will send you a message.
Support/Contact Information
- Southwest cannot provide direct customer support for
how to use Southwest secure e-mail.
- Patients are being told to ask their health care
provider - that's you - to answer questions they may have about using secure
e-mail.
- We should not ask for any other identifying
information. Patients are asked to report any requests for additional
identifying information.
- To report a possible violation of secure e-mail or to report a malfunction, e-mail securemail@swmedicalcenter.org, or call 360.514.2915.
|
