E-mail guidelines.
We are writing about Dr Michelle Greiver’s article, “Practice Tips. E-mailing patients,” in the September 2006 issue.1 E-mail communication between physicians and patients is indeed a growing trend, and clear guidelines are required to ensure patient safety and confidentiality are maintained. For these reasons, in February 2005, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) created a policy on Physician Guidelines for Online Communication with Patients that outlines the best Canadian practices. The policy is available in English and French on the CMA website at http://policybase.cma.ca/dbtw-wpd/PolicyPDF/PD05-03.pdf. In addition the CMA has also developed a privacy tool called the CMA Privacy Wizard, which allows physicians to rapidly create a personalized patient confidentiality policy for their practice. This tool is also available free in both official languages on the CMA website at http://www.cma.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/40833/la_id/1.htm. (Please note that registering for cma.ca is free for all physicians in Canada.)