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Ask the expert: Are all e-mails containing confidential information protected from disclosure?

Credentialing Resource Center Connection, June 21, 2007

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The short answer is no. In general, regular e-mails about business or any other topic-if sent or received on a business computer-are considered business documents. While there are laws that protect confidential subject matter (e.g., confidential peer review information) communicated via e-mail, there are circumstances that can affect that protection. 

Physicians and medical staff office personnel who are involved in peer review activities, for instance, must understand that in order to be even nominally protected from disclosure, an e-mail, like a paper document, must be primarily focused on reviewing physician performance with the goal of improving patient care. The presence of any extraneous information can take the information out of the realm of protected peer review, say experts.

This week's question is brought to you by HCPro's Credentialing & Peer Review Legal Insider newsletter. For more on this topic or to subscribe, click here.

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