title: If you monitor e-mail, have a policy.
abstract: As the use of e-mail has increased, so has employer monitoring of e-mail messages. But what a health care employer deems its right to protect a vast amount of confidential patient information from improper use, employees may view as a privacy violation. If employees are violating a health care organization's confidentiality or other workplace policies, the health care provider can be held liable for their actions and the e-mail communication could be the proverbial smoking gun. Health care institutions that monitor employee e-mail must have a monitoring policy in place and communicate it to employees.
authors.affiliation: Cohen & Grigsby, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Van Doren
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004651:Employment; D006270:Health Facility Administrators; D006801:Humans; D016134:Organizational Policy; D018907:Privacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States