In order to protect patient privacy, please follow these important tips when faxing patient information:

1. You may fax protected health information (PHI) to individuals within or outside of the Medical Center if they have a legitimate need to know for emergent patient care matters or to facilitate payment
2. Additional precautions should be used when faxing highly confidential information – see faxing guidelines for details.
3. Accompany each fax with a fax cover sheet containing the HPO approved privacy disclaimer.
4. Limit the amount of information being faxed to minimum amount necessary.
5. Verify fax numbers before faxing information.
6. Check fax numbers periodically to confirm their accuracy when using preset fax numbers.

Visit the HPO Best Practice Library to view a sample fax coversheet and checklist that should be available in areas where fax machines are located or contact the HIPAA Program Office (HPO) at 4-9716 or HPO@bsd.uchicago.edu for more information.