Introduction to ONE Mail

Agenda What is ONE Mail? Why is TBHRSC participating? How does ONE Mail work? How will ONE Mail help me? Implications Next Steps Summary Questions

What is ONE Mail ONE Mail is an e-mail system developed by eHealth Ontario that enables the secure exchange of personal health information between participating organizations. ONE Mail is a communication tool providing the ability to transfer patient information to other healthcare partners (providing they are also participating in ONE Mail) in cases where faxes or couriers had previously been used.

Why is TBRHSC and SJCG Participating Current e-mail policy does not allow sending personal health information (PHI). Current e-mail policy prohibits the forwarding of e-mail from the hospital e-mail system (GroupWise) to external e-mail systems. A need exists to send confidential e-mail between senders and recipients.

How Does ONE Mail Work ONE Mail provides additional layers of security designed to allow healthcare providers to securely and reliably send health and patient information. ONE Mail satisfies government regulations regarding the protection of information, privacy, and confidentiality that apply to personal health information. Users access ONE Mail using secure connection protocols over a managed private network. When followed, policies and procedures ensure privacy, security, and acceptable use. Current e-mail policy does not allow sending personal health information (PHI).

How Will ONE Mail Help Me? It will allow you to: Share personal health information with other ONE Mail users, knowing the information is fully protected. It gives you the confidence that the person to whom you send a message is actually the person listed – and nobody else. It lets you send personal health information electronically, allowing faster access to information to make clinical decisions. Reduced costs of alternative forms of communication such as faxing and couriering.

Implications Basic e-mail such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Sympatico, Tbaytel, or Shaw accounts are unprotected e-mail accounts. Mail can be intercepted and read by others as it moves across the public Internet. Think of basic e-mail as you would a postcard – your information could be available to prying eyes. You should never send personal information in an unsecured e-mail.

Implications Copies of e-mails or attachments saved on your computer are outside of the ONE Mail system. Therefore: It is your responsibility to protect saved copies with sensitive content as you would protect paper records. Follow all privacy and security guidelines and legislation when sending personal health information by e-mail, just as you would when faxing or couriering paper documents. To ensure that PHI is going to be sent securely, a new standard practice requires that the ONE Pages directory be checked at each e-mail composition.

Next Steps ONE Mail was deployed in January 2012 for TBRHSC and SJCG. We are looking for support from the medical community and want to ask if you are willing to be part of the ONE Mail deployment.

Summary Accessing others’ e-mail addresses to determine if they are participating in ONE Mail is done via the ONE Pages Directory, or through a separate query through GroupWise. You must ensure that the recipient e-mail address is listed in the ONE Pages or through querying ONE Pages through GroupWise when sending sensitive information. You are responsible for the security/privacy of personal health information. Any messages/attachments saved on your computer are your responsibility. Treat electronic records as you would paper records.

Remember: Addresses that are listed in ONE Pages are secure. This includes the ONE Mail LDAP Address book in GW. Addresses that are not­ listed in ONE Pages are not secure. This does not prevent you from sending e-mail to recipients who are not ONE Mail subscribers. However, the email transmission is NOT secured so sending of PHI is prohibited as per our email policy.