The easiest and most frequent way that confidentiality is violated through the use of e-mail is that of misdirection. The e-mail message is mistakenly sent to someone other than the intended recipient. This may occur through a careless typing of the intended recipient's e-mail address. Alternately, this misdirection may occur from inadvertently forwarding the message to unintended parties. Greater care and increased experience with the use of e-mail can prevent this simple mistake.
Some people monitor e-mail the way others monitor police scanners.
There are several ways to minimize the possibility that confidentiality will be inadvertently breached through the use of e-mail. First, identifying information about the patient should not be included in the e-mail. It is usually unnecessary to include such information in order to get the needed consultation. Excluding identifying information is the simplest and easiest method to maintain the confidentiality of the communication. Second, e-mail messages can be encrypted so that anyone who intercepts them will be unable to read them.