Secure Email
The Secure Email component of the Queensland Health Secure Transfer Service (STS) facility allows for the transmission of encrypted emails.
The primary objectives of the Secure Email stream are to facilitate secure electronic transmission and improve the timelines for delivery of patient related documents from Queensland Health hospitals to GP Practices and specialists.
Participants in Secure Email are:
- Private GP's who use Secure Email for secure transmission of patient related information between GP Practices and between a GP Practice and Queensland Health.
- Queensland Health Clinicians who use Secure Email for secure transmission of patient related information between Queensland Health and GP Practices.
Using Secure Email
Why use Secure Email
Secure Email through STS provides for secure transmission over the Internet.By using Secure Email for confidential information, you are able to:
- Verify the identity of people who send you emails.
- Ensure the information, (message body and attachments, (e.g. patient related information in a Discharge Summary), remains private through use of encryption.
- Guarantee the information exchanged is not altered.
- Ensure that neither party can dispute the transaction.
Benefits to Private GP's
Secure Email is used by private GP's to securely transmit encrypted emails containing patient and other sensitive information.
Using PKI encryption ensures the email is secure.
Benefits to Queensland Health
The Secure Email service provides the facilities to securely communicate confidential information internally and externally. Equally importantly, these facilities are being used to provide greater day to day efficiencies for clinicians whilst also delivering secure transmission capability.
The principle objective for the Secure Email service is to comply with the Australian health sector directions of HealthConnect and to provide appropriate technologies to satisfy Privacy Legislation
Other primary objectives include:
- Enabling Queensland Health hospitals to provide secure email communications to General Practitioner (GPs) and specialists (e.g. to deliver secure email for outpatient letters, radiology reports and pathology reports direct from AUSLAB to GPs and other external health partners).
- Meeting the Queensland Health Strategic Plan, which includes using Secure Email, through Internet Access, to transfer Patient related documents between Queensland Health hospitals and GP Practices.
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