Methods of Communication Policies and Consent

In this section, we review methods of communication that may occur between TAP staff and patients: portal, phone, email, and text messages. Please review each section to understand our policies around communication.

Patient Portal. We request that all patients set up a patient portal on our HIPAA-compliant system. We use the portal for all intake paperwork, as well as to send communication of clinic-wide information (e.g., Notice of Privacy Practices), assessment measures, and monthly billing invoices. The portal also allows you to update your demographic or payment information as needed. Please verify your portal settings to ensure you allow email notifications or portal messages or check your portal regularly while in treatment with us.

Phone and voicemail. By providing your phone number in your intake paperwork, you consent to communication by phone using these numbers, including TAP staff or providers leaving detailed voicemails on these numbers. Please make sure that you have a functioning voicemail; TAP cannot be responsible for information that we attempted to leave by voicemail (e.g., session cancellations, appointment times), but were unable to due to functionality on your end.

Email and texting. Email and text communication have become easy, efficient ways to communicate; however, there are inherent risks associated with email and texting. Please note that secure messaging is available through the patient portal in addition to or instead of email or text messages.

Risks and Considerations for Email and Text Communication:

Email is to be used for administrative purposes only unless you have made another agreement with your provider. That means that email exchanges should be limited to things like setting and changing appointments, billing matters, and other related issues. Please do not email administrative staff or your provider(s) about clinical matters, because email is not a secure method of communication.

While there are some exceptions that can be made and agreed upon with your provider, texts are generally not an appropriate way to communicate with your provider. Please use your portal, phone, or email instead.

There are risks associated with e-mail and text messaging as outlined below:

• E-mail and texts are not completely confidential, including but not limited to the following:
  • Messages may be retained in the logs of the e-mail/phone/internet service provider. Although under normal circumstances no one looks at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the service providers.
  • Copies of e-mails and texts may exist even after the sender and/or the recipient has deleted his or her copy. Copies may be uploaded to a cloud storage system and accessed by family members or partners.
  • E-mails and texts can be intercepted, altered, forwarded, or used without authorization or detection.
  • Messages sent using standard email or phone (i.e., not through our patient portal) are not HIPAA compliant.
• Emails and text messaging are subject to human errors, which may include, but are not limited to:
  • E-mail and text senders can misaddress an e-mail or text.
  • E-mail and text senders may unintentionally send or attach private or confidential information to an undesired recipient.

Conditions for the use of email and texts with TAP staff and providers:

• TAP staff and providers cannot guarantee, but will use reasonable means, to maintain the security and confidentiality of e-mail and text information sent and received. This includes but is not limited to a passcode lock on phones and password-protected computers.
• E-mail and texting are not appropriate for urgent or emergency situations. Neither the administrative staff nor clinical providers can guarantee that any particular e-mail and/or text will be read and responded to within any particular period of time.
  • E-mail and texts should be concise. Unless you and your provider have agreed to a specific exception, sensitive or complex situations should be discussed in a phone call or during a scheduled appointment, not via e-mail or text.
  • If texts or e-mails contain information relevant to your treatment, they may be retained in your medical record, or a summary of the content may be included in a clinical note in your record.
  • If you choose to use e-mail or text messaging, you agree that your administrative staff or your clinical provider may reply to your email and text messages, and that they may include any information that they deem appropriate, including information that would otherwise be considered confidential.
  • You agree that if you do not receive a timely response from an e-mail or text message to your provider or an administrative staff member, that you will follow up with a phone call to them or contact emergency services.
  • If you choose to use e-mail or text messaging, you agree not to hold the TAP Clinic or your clinician liable for improper disclosure of confidential information that is caused by you, a third party, or TAP staff or provider error.

  It is not uncommon for patients to use multiple email addresses, which can be difficult to keep track of for our staff and providers. If you provided an email in your paperwork as a means of communication, you agree to permit TAP staff or providers to respond to any email address where there is reason to believe you are the sender and the email was sent directly to a TAP email address. If you have any reason to believe that someone may impersonate you by email and contact TAP staff or providers, we recommend you not provide email as a method of communication.  If you become aware that your email address has been hacked or compromised, please let TAP staff know immediately.