Email may be an appropriate method of communication depending on urgency, sensitivity and risk.

A disclaimer should be sent with every email. It is included in staff email signatures (see Appendix).

When sending an email, the address is verified by checking the correct email address has been entered. If in doubt the patient should be rung to verify.

Patients are informed verbally and in writing that email communication is not secure. There are risks to personal information using email. Sending demographic or sensitive health information by email is at the patient’s own risk. Patients should be encouraged to password protect documents or photos. They should send a follow up email or ring the practice to advise the password.

The Patient Information form states that the practice emails are not encrypted, and by signing the form a patient acknowledges and consents to using email under these circumstances. The practice uses Microsoft 365 (Outlook) which is secured by MFA.

Any information of a sensitive nature, include demographic and health information should ideally be send by secure messaging.

For referrals from another doctor this practice uses Healthlink which is a secure messaging platform. Letters from the practice to other health practitioners are also sent by Healthlink. If the other practitioner does not use Healthlink, letters are sent as a password protected pdf by email .

The password is the patient’s DOB in the format ddmmyyyy. The addressee should be informed of the password by phone, or in a separate email which does not contain any identifying information.

The practice emails Patient information forms. These are now password protected. Patients are advised of the password in the new patient letter.

When receiving an email containing personal information, the email is quickly viewed, and then moved to the patients file, to the Triage folder on OneDrive, or forwarded to Dr Drummond if appropriate (see below).

The email should then be deleted from the Inbox.
Emails should be deleted from the Deleted folder daily

Email access and monitoring

Emails are only checked during office hours Monday to Friday. Emails are only checked during office hours Monday to Friday. Emails are not monitored on weekends. Because of volume of emails received by the practice, it may take 2-3 days to respond.Emails are dealt with in order of receipt.

Responses to emails

If the email is of a clinical nature, a response is not provided for those who are not patients of the practice ( those who have not had a previous consultation, either in person or by telehealth, with Dr Drummond).

Emails will not involve clinical discussion except to clarify any minor issues arising from a recent consultation (within the previous 4-6 weeks).

Dr Drummond does not engage in back-and-forth email conversations. If further questions arise after an email response, a consultation should be arranged.
– Email is inappropriate for sensitive, detailed, complex explanations.
– Email is inappropriate for giving bad news.

It is appropriate for the doctor to exercise clinical judgement and decline to engage in an email conversation. The patient may need to make an appointment to clarify any issues or concerns they may have.

Email correspondence does not allow proper clinical assessment. It is unsafe practice to provide medical advice by email without proper consultation.

The response to any request is at Dr Drummond’s clinical discretion.

Email procedure

Incoming emails to contact@drumderm.com.au are forwarded to Dr Drummond if they contain information relating to clinical issues (potential medication adverse effects, post procedure complications, complication of a pre-existing condition, or new condition), or are expressing dissatisfaction or a complaint.

Requests for new or lost prescriptions and request forms are also forwarded to Dr Drummond.

Any matters relating to change of appointments, updated referrals or administrative issues are dealt with by reception staff, and do not need to be forwarded to Dr Drummond

Referrals sent by email are saved to the Triage folder on OneDrive ( Comm Share) which is password protected, with MFA required for log in access.

Any emails sent to catherine@drumderm.com.au or practiceadmin@drumderm.com.au are dealt with by Dr Drummond personally, but may be forwarded to reception staff for action if appropriate.

Clinical images are sent by email in jpg or pdf format. If sent by a patient, implicit consent is given. If concerned about privacy issues, patients should password protect the file.

Clinical images sent by the practice to another health provider should be password protected unless specific consent has been obtained from the patient to the contrary.

Images may be used to make a clinical judgement if appropriate. Sometimes a face-to-face consultation may be required because of the quality of the photos or the need to conduct an examination in person.

If a request comes by email from Dr Drummond, reply DONE when complete.

Any email with information which might be relevant or important must be saved to the clinical record.

If an email is time sensitive – ask for confirmation of receipt of email by reply.

Autoreply is activated for all email addresses.

Staff should confirm email address when the patient checks in.

If sending information to a patient without specifically confirming their email address, ask then patient to send an email to the practice, and then reply to that email.

Never use Reply All in relation to patient emails. Send separate emails.

The email policy is available on the practice website.
Please refer to Privacy policy and Data Breach Response Plan for further information.

Appendix: Email disclaimer:

This e-mail may contain privileged and confidential information and/or copyright material and is intended for the use of the addressee only.

If you receive this e-mail in error, please advise the sender immediately by using the reply facility in your e-mail software and delete this e-mail from your computer system. You may not deliver, copy, or disclose its contents to anyone else. Any unauthorised use may be unlawful.

Any views expressed in this e-mail are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of Drummond Dermatology. 


As communications via the Internet are not secure the sender cannot accept any liability if this e-mail is accessed by third parties during the course of transmission or is modified or amended in any way following despatch. Drummond Dermatology cannot guarantee that any attachment to this email does not contain a virus, therefore it is strongly recommended that you carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment, as we cannot accept liability for any damage sustained as a result of software virus infection. Senders of messages shall be taken to consent to the monitoring and recording of e-mails addressed to members of Drummond Dermatology.