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Dear .............
Thank you for your email correspondence regarding ......
We do prefer to receive correspondence electronically, but sending patient information via standard (un-encrypted) email is NOT an acceptable practice as the information is not secure and thus breaches medical ethics and the Privacy Act. There is also no guarantee of delivery which has the potential to lead to medico legal issues.
To combat the above issues, Secure Messaging allows patient information to be sent in a secure manner (encrypted) between healthcare providers. Currently, there is little interoperability between Secure Messaging providers, so for the time being it is important to select a Secure Messaging provider that is widely used in your area. Both the Manly Warringah Division of General Practice and the Northern Sydney General Practice Network areas have standardised on Argus Secure Messaging, with a large majority of General Practices in these areas actively using Argus.
The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA), an Australia government body has worked with the medical software industry to develop Australian standards for secure messaging. Amongst other things, these standards dictate the type of encryption used, notification of non delivery of messages and interoperability between providers. Many medical software / Secure messaging providers, including Argus are currently working to meet these standards, and when met and implemented parties using different vendors (of secure messaging software) will be able to communicate.
Communicating patient information via secure messaging is important to GP's in this area as it has many benefits to both the sending and receiving practices including:
· More timely and secure receipt of communication
· More legible communication
· Reduced administration overhead (printing, packing envelopes, postage, scanning of correspondence)
Please consider using Argus Secure Messaging when sending patient correspondence to us. Information on Argus Connect is available at http://www.argusconnect.com.au or they can be contacted on 03 5335 2221.
Yours Sincerley,
Dr ..................
