Medinet Mail FAQ

Why do I need secure email?
In the usual case, Internet mail travels from your desktop to your outbound mail server. From there, it is routed over a series of “third-party” mail servers until it reaches the mail server for the address you sent it to. From there, the final user will download it. All these transfers happen in plain text, so the contents of your message and any attachments are wide open for spam readers, security hackers and other dangerous elements.

You and your local mail provider have no control over which servers your message might hit as it travels to the destination.

With Medinet Mail  the data stays completely in Canada and is not routed through US or International servers – only through our dedicated state of the industry encrypted server in Ottawa.  (The technical details: Web traffic is all encrypted using TLS. Databases are encrypted using 256 bit AES.)

What do I use it for?

Physicians will find many different uses for our secure email. You can exchange confidential patient information  with colleagues, send medical histories and consultation letters to other medical offices, request appointments, all in a completely safe and secure environment.

We expect that some physicians will want to use Medinet Mail to communicate securely with patients. Since patients can send and receive messages at no charge once they are set up as a guest, keeping in touch becomes easy and convenient.

How does Medinet Mail work?

Messages travel from your desktop over a secure channel to our mail servers. If your addressee is a Medinet Mail user, it will go directly to the Outlook or webmail inbox. If your addressee is not a user yet, they will get a message from us asking them to register as a guest on the system. This is a one-time setup; from there on, messages will arrive automatically.

How do I send secure email?

Use our secure Webmail app. It works the same way. All your secure correspondence is held in one place, and you can get access anywhere you have an Internet connection.

What about attachments?

You can attach documents, lab reports, medical histories and other confidential information to your messages, and they will travel safely and securely over our encrypted channels.

What browsers are supported?

Medinet Mail for the desktop is supported on most browsers. For mobile, Android is supported on the Chrome browser and the iPhone uses the Safari browser. Please go to Google Play to download whichever browser you require.

On your Android open Settings (looks like a wheel)
Tap Apps or Apps & Notifications depending on your version of Android.

Apps only
Find the Chrome application
Click on the name
Scroll down and click on “set as default”

For Apps & Notifications
At the bottom, tap Advanced
Tap Default apps
Tap Browser App “chrome”

What kind of information is private?

Private information is anything that identifies a patient or another person who is the subject of your email. So patient names, PHNs, home addresses and the like cannot be sent over plain email. Since Messaging emails are encrypted  and travel directly to your addressee over our secure network, you are always within compliance with the BCMA Physician Privacy Toolkit rules.

How can I start using it?

Send an email to support@medinet.ca requesting an email account and we’ll contact you or use the handy sign up link below.