Doctors Across Tennessee Keep Faxing Patient Records To A Solar Panel Company

For three years now, reports The Tennessean, the owner of a solar panel company in Indiana says “confidential medical faxes” have been sent to him by doctors throughout Tennessee. His fax number is apparently very similar to the one for the Tennessee Department of Human Services, but although he’s contacted the errant doctors’ offices, as well as reported it to the DHS and to the state’s governor’s office, they keep coming.

Keith’s fax rang 167 times in a month at the peak of the problem, he said. Keith said he hasn’t kept an exact count, but his office averages about five patient faxes a week and sometimes more.

[…]

E-mails between the state and Keith from April 2008 show that the Department of Human Services knew about the fax issue.

Friday, DHS said it would start asking medical staff to send a test fax to the state and to program the correct number into their fax machines.

“Doctors mistakenly fax patients’ data to Indiana company” [The Tennessean] (Thanks to farfenugal!)
(Photo: mdornseif)

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