Q. It would make life a lot easier for the practice if I could text or email results to patients. If I have the patient's permission, is it ok to do this?

A. If there is a specific request e.g. by email from a patient to send their results back by that format, then it is reasonable to acquiesce to that request. However, if you are contemplating a standardised process of returning results, you should be careful about the content of any message, and consider the potential for a data breach. An explicit and informed request from the patient should be recorded.