Applies to: All Employees
One aspect of receiving "Meaningful Use" Certification - and ensuring that our EMR System is paid for - involves providing a Clinical Summary (of physician findings and plan) to our patients via email. We will provide a written explanation as to why we are collecting this information. It is important that you briefly explain this to our patients (verbally).
All desk staff (check in and check out) are to attempt to obtain email addresses for ALL patients (if we do not already have one in the system) and for this information to be entered into the patient's account. If you attempt to collect this information and are unsuccessful, note why on the Superbill:
"Pt. does not have email."
"Pt. refuses to provide email"
or any other reason you are given.
We understand that there are patients who may not have an email account; there are, likely, also patients who may be reluctant to provide this information up front as they may fear being bombarded with solicitation emails.
If a patient has an email but refuses to provide their email to our desk staff, Assistants should attempt to get this information. If patients are clear that the reason for providing it is so that our physicians may communicate their findings via a care summary, patients may be more willing to make this disclosure.
Just because a patient does not have their own email account does not mean they do not use email. You may find that a son or daughter has an email address that can be used to send this information to.
One aspect of receiving "Meaningful Use" Certification - and ensuring that our EMR System is paid for - involves providing a Clinical Summary (of physician findings and plan) to our patients via email. We will provide a written explanation as to why we are collecting this information. It is important that you briefly explain this to our patients (verbally).
All desk staff (check in and check out) are to attempt to obtain email addresses for ALL patients (if we do not already have one in the system) and for this information to be entered into the patient's account. If you attempt to collect this information and are unsuccessful, note why on the Superbill:
"Pt. does not have email."
"Pt. refuses to provide email"
or any other reason you are given.
We understand that there are patients who may not have an email account; there are, likely, also patients who may be reluctant to provide this information up front as they may fear being bombarded with solicitation emails.
If a patient has an email but refuses to provide their email to our desk staff, Assistants should attempt to get this information. If patients are clear that the reason for providing it is so that our physicians may communicate their findings via a care summary, patients may be more willing to make this disclosure.
Just because a patient does not have their own email account does not mean they do not use email. You may find that a son or daughter has an email address that can be used to send this information to.
| policy_protocol_meaningful_use_and_collecting_patient_emails_09262012.docx |