Healthmail

Healthmail has been in operation since 2014 with the original purpose of providing safe email communication between GPs and hospitals. Significant expansion has occurred since that time. The following groups are currently eligible to register for @healthmail.ie accounts:

GPs and their practice staff
Community Pharmacies
Nursing Homes
Dentists
Optometrists
Physiotherapists
Private Consultants
Dietitians

Security

Healthmail works within a private, bounded network. By default, all domains are blocked from communicating with Healthmail but there is a growing list of connected/whitelisted agencies. The full list is published here: https://www.ehealthireland.ie/ehealth-functions/access-to-information-a2i/healthmail1/

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 data transmitted.

eScripts

In April 2020, COVID Emergency Legislative Provisions recognised Healthmail as the national electronic prescription transfer service, permitting the transfer of a prescription between the prescriber and dispensing pharmacy by electronic means, removing the need for a paper equivalent. This has led to phenomenal increases in usage of the system in terms of message throughput, volume, and user logins.

Aside from prescription transfers, some common uses of Healthmail are as follows:

Transfer of medical records;
Requests for medical reviews;
Referral queries;
Communication of allied health professional assessments/ treatment plans.

Identity Service

In 2021 the Healthmail identity service was established to allow authentication access to external cloud-based applications e.g., the Health Provider Portal. In this instance, Healthmail Pharmacy users are granted access to the portal using their Healthmail credentials, negating the need to maintain multiple identities.