Can a physician’s office FAX patient medical information to another physician’s office?

Answer:

The HIPAA Privacy Rule permits physicians to disclose protected health information to another health care provider for treatment purposes. This can be done by fax or by other means. Covered entities must have in place reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the privacy of protected health information that is disclosed using a fax machine. Examples of measures that could be reasonable and appropriate in such a situation include the sender confirming that the fax number to be used is in fact the correct one for the other physician’s office, and placing the fax machine in a secure location to prevent unauthorized access to the information. See 45 CFR164.530(c).

For more detailed information about health privacy, you may want to visit our Medical Privacy: National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information site.

Date Created: 12/20/2002
Last Updated: 11/09/2006