A Warning Label For Healthcare E-mail?

BY JIM PURCELL Eric Jones, the CEO of a large hospital, is at the end of a long day.  It’s 10 PM, he’s very tired, and has had his maximum of three drinks.  He’s checking his emails and sees one from Ralph Smith, CEO of a small community hospital, rejecting Jones’ offer to joint venture hips and knees.  The small hospital has rated tops in those categories, and Jones had hoped to achieve a quality and marketing coup by joining forces, perhaps as a prelude to acquisition.  This rejection was the last straw, particularly since Smith and Jones never had gotten on very well.  Immediately, Jones whipped off an email excoriating and libeling Smith and his hospital, misrepresenting what happened in negotiations, and threatening to “go to war” and “destroy” him and his hospital if they don’t “play ball.” Think that far-fetched?  Nope.  Things worse than that have happened with astonishing regularity.  Assume that when Smith opens and reads that email the next morning, he then forwards it to his senior staff and the hospital’s litigation lawyer.  The lawyer confirms that it’s not only actionable for libel, but could constitute a violation of antitrust law, where damages can be trebled and attorneys’ fees recovered. Then one of the small hospital’s senior staff decides to forward the email “without attribution” to one of his friends who is a local investigative reporter.  Two mornings later, the email, in its entirety with only obscenities de...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs