Email for GPs
The challenge in a GP practice
In a GP practice, sensitive information goes over email all day long. Think of an appointment confirmation, a patient's question about a result, a referral letter to a specialist or a message to the hospital or the lab. That's exactly the information you never want to see out in the open.
At the same time you rarely work alone. A practice often has one or more practice assistants, perhaps a practice nurse and one or more fellow doctors. Everyone mails, and everyone prefers to do so from an address that looks professional: name@yourpractice.be instead of a free address that says nothing about who you are. Your own domain makes you instantly recognisable and prevents a patient from doubting whether a message really comes from the practice.
The good news: those two things (confidentiality and a tidy, shared practice mail environment) don't have to be arranged separately. This is part of the broader approach we describe in email for healthcare.
What professional duty and the GDPR require
As a GP you have a duty of professional secrecy, and patient data are special categories of personal data under the GDPR for which stricter rules apply. In short: health data deserve extra protection, and unsecured email is generally not suitable for that without more. You must take appropriate technical and organisational measures.
What those measures involve exactly is filled in by your own professional body and the data protection authority. In Belgium you look to the code of conduct of the Orde der artsen, the Belgian order of physicians, and to the Belgian Data Protection Authority (GBA). The main line is fixed, the details differ per practice.
This article is informative and not legal advice. If you want to be sure what applies to your practice, consult a specialist or your professional body. The concrete question "is this actually allowed?" we address separately in may I send medical data by email? and more generally in sending personal data by email under the GDPR.
What your email then needs to do
From that context, email for a GP practice calls for a few concrete things:
- European hosting and GDPR compliance: so you know where your data resides and under which law it falls.
- Encrypted connections (TLS): so messages are protected in transit between you and the server.
- Strong access security: with two-factor authentication (2FA) as an extra lock on every mailbox.
- Filtering against spam, phishing and malware: because a practice is a favourite target for fake mails.
- Backups: so your correspondence isn't simply lost.
- Management for the whole team: one place to create and manage mailboxes for assistants and colleagues.
Email for GPs: why Mailflux fits
Mailflux gives you professional mailboxes on your own practice domain, hosted in Europe and GDPR compliant. That's exactly the foundation a GP practice needs: your data resides in Europe, connections run encrypted via TLS, and you optionally enable 2FA per mailbox so no one just gets in.
Every plan includes filtering against spam, phishing and malware, together with antivirus and automatic backups. The spam filtering is ML-driven, which helps against the fake messages that pose as a lab, a hospital or an insurer. You don't need any technical knowledge for this: it's simply on.
Working with assistants and colleagues? With bulk account management you create mailboxes for the whole practice at once and manage them centrally. The webmail works in the browser on any device, without installation, so you can reach the same mailbox at the front desk, in the consulting room or at home. A shared calendar and shareable contact management help keep appointments and contacts aligned within the practice.
Important to be honest about: Mailflux is not a separately certified system for medical messaging. It's EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant professional email that forms a strong, secure foundation. For exchanging medical records you additionally follow the channels and rules your professional body prescribes.
Looking beyond just the GP practice? Then who Mailflux is for shows which other professions face the same confidentiality questions.
Getting started
Want to get your practice mail in order with a mailbox on your own domain, EU-hosted and GDPR compliant? That's easily arranged, and we're happy to help you get set up. Request your mailbox with no obligation and lay the right foundation for your practice right away.