Q. What is Healthmail?

Healthmail is a secure clinical email system. Healthmail allows healthcare providers to communicate patient identifiable clinical information with clinicians in primary and secondary care. Healthmail is for all primary health care providers other than those with a Health Service Executive (HSE) or voluntary hospital email address. Healthmail is configured to be easy to use and will improve electronic communications to the benefit of patients and clinicians.

Q. What are the benefits of Healthmail?

• Improved access to clinical information at the point of care;
• Supports a team based approach to patient care;
• Replacement of faxes, more secure and reliable;
• Reduces time spent on the phone;
• Can attach documents and images;
• Very easy to use.

Q. Who is eligible for a Healthmail account?

Currently the applicant must be a general practitioner attached to a practice or a supervising pharmacist working in a pharmacy. Healthmail is being expanded to all primary care professionals which means Allied Health Professionals, Nursing Homes, Dentists etc will soon be able to apply for accounts too.

Q. Can GP support staff get Healthmail accounts?

Yes. Each GP user has a subsidiary account that can be allocated to a practice manager, nurse or secretary. Alternatively the second account could be designated as a generic practice account and used by all support staff e.g. lismorepractice.gp@healthmail.ie.

Q. What is the cost of Healthmail to GPs?

There is no cost to register or use a Healthmail account. The Health Service Executive (HSE) funds Healthmail.

Q. How can I use Healthmail?

Healthmail is a safe and secure way to communicate patient identifiable clinical information. It will allow you to communicate with:

• Primary Care Teams;
• Community Pharmacies;
• Community Intervention Teams;
• Palliative Care Teams;
• Consultants and Clinical Nurse Specialists in secondary care;
• Departments of Public Health.

Q. How will I know who I can securely email?

Healthmail contains a directory of all registered users. Click on `To` when writing an email to access the directory. All HSE and Voluntary Hospital email addresses are automatically connected to Healthmail along with another 30+ healthcare agencies nationally. In simple terms this means that you can send full patient information from your Healthmail account to any colleague with a @healthmail.ie and @hse.ie or @voluntaryhospital.ie addresses.

Q. What keeps Healthmail secure?

Healthmail works within a private bounded network. Transport layer security (TLS) connections are in place with all connected agencies. TLS provides an encrypted tunnel between the mail servers, ensuring the security and confidentiality of the data transmitted.

Q. What do I do if I forget my password?

Ring the help desk at Freephone 1800 800 002 and select option 2.