Email Communication Guidelines

Using Email to Communicate with the Faculty and Staff at the CTSA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (an act intended to protect the privacy of patients’ health data) went into effect on April 14, 2003. As such, please note the following rules for contacting us via e-mail:

  1. E-mail is never, ever, appropriate for urgent or emergency problems! Please use the telephone or go to the Emergency Department for emergencies.
     
  2. E-mail is not confidential. It is like sending a postcard through the mail. As such, e-mails should not be used to communicate sensitive medical or personal information.
     
  3. E-mail is not the same as calling our office; there is no person at the other end of the call - just a computer. You can’t tell for certain when your message will be read or even if a doctor is in the office or on vacation.
     
  4. E-mail is great for asking those little questions that don’t require a lot of discussion, such as referral and/or appointment scheduling requests.
     
  5. It will further assist us if you could identify the nature of your request in the subject line of your message.

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