Graduate

PROFESSIONAL Alan Reilly, ICT Programme Manager, IPU
Healthmail
Clinical effectiveness is a key component of patient safety
and using secure clinical email promotes healthcare that
is up to date, effective and consistent. Alan Reilly, ICT
Programme Manager, IPU, explains Healthmail, what
it is used for and the registration process.
What is Healthmail?
Healthmail is a secure clinical
email system provided by the
Office of Chief Information
Officer (OoCIO) in the HSE.
The initial implementation
of Healthmail was for GPs
and their support staff. It
went live in November 2014,
allowing communication of
patient-identifiable clinical
information with clinicians in
primary and secondary care
(where a HSE or voluntary
hospital email address is
used). From 1 December 2016,
support for Healthmail
moved to the Access to
Information function of
eHealth Ireland. Healthmail
is now being extended to
all primary healthcare
providers and the IPU is
working with eHealth Ireland
to implement Healthmail
in community pharmacy.
Why Healthmail?
Email is ubiquitous in our
business and personal lives.
Normal email has not been
utilised in healthcare because
it is not secure; it can be
read as it moves across the
Internet and while resting on
mail servers. Secure email
is encrypted in transit and
stored on secure mail servers.
The profusion of viruses
and malware distributed
via normal email is another
reason to adopt Healthmail for
clinical communication.
Healthmail is described
as a ‘secure clinical
email’ service, in that it is
suitable for communicating
patient-identifiable clinical
information by email. For
patients with chronic disease
and multiple illnesses,
there is a need for a team
approach to care, involving
the participation of various
healthcare providers. In the
business world, email aids
everyday work and helps
ensure optimal performance
in communication. As secure
email for clinical purposes
becomes established in
primary care, the range of use
cases will grow exponentially.
Initially, as an enabling tool,
Healthmail will replace
faxes and some phone calls
and bring primary care
communications into
the 21st century.
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IPUREVIEW APRIL 2017