10 email alternatives that help with HIPAA compliance for therapists

The internet and social media have drastically changed therapy in the past 15 years. On one hand, patients have more access to information that can assist their therapy. And therapists now have more ways to help their patients, through resources like blog posts and e-books.

On the other hand, therapists have to be extremely careful with their web presence.

The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends not making your clients your Facebook friends, for example. Plus, therapists have to be mindful of exactly what tools they use to communicate different types of information. For example, it’s usually a bad idea to text patients anything other than scheduling info.

There’s another concern, though — email security. It’s critical to maintain doctor-patient confidentiality in all communications in order to comply with regulations. Fortunately, there are many HIPAA-friendly email tools that therapists can use.

There’s another concern, though: email security. It’s critical to maintain doctor-patient confidentiality in all communications in order to comply with regulations. Fortunately, there are many email tools that offer HIPAA-friendly features that therapists can use as an alternative to the most commonly used platforms. We’ve compiled a list for you in this article.

But first, let’s take a look at the types of features you should be looking for in an email platform that helps with HIPAA compliance.

What should you consider when choosing an email solution that helps with HIPAA compliance?

To make shopping around for email services that help with HIPAA compliance a little easier, we’ve highlighted the most important factors to keep in mind when selecting your solution as a therapist:

• The email solution should have a signed business associate agreement (BAA) that states the email service accepts responsibility for keeping personal health information (PHI) within emails safe.
• It should have multiple layers of security, such as data encryption, password protection, two-factor authentication, Google reCAPTCHA, and more.
• It should use 256-bit SSL encryption to secure information in transit.
• It should have a built-in archive so you can easily access email content when you need it.
• It should come with a customer care, support, and service package so you can reach out with any questions or concerns regarding HIPAA compliance.
• The vendor should be constantly updating their security protocols to meet HIPAA requirements.

Now, let’s get into the list of email alternatives that help with HIPAA compliance.

1. HIPAA Vault: Best all-in-one compliance solution

HIPAA Vault is a great option for the more tech-savvy and those who need a full suite of compliance tools for their office.

Overall Capterra rating: Not available

Key features

HIPAA Vault integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace and Office 365, provides solutions for data and file storage, and offers resources and training on cybersecurity. The company is also well known for its excellent customer support.

Pros and cons

• Pro: It offers a full suite of solutions beyond email, such as web hosting and texting solutions.
• Con: The costs for its individual offerings can quickly add up.

Pricing

The straightforward pricing structure starts at $12 per month, billed annually, for Microsoft 365 and Gmail.

User review

“Excellent customer service and quick response to any inquiries. Smooth and high quality full service provider that I recommend for those looking for a solid partnership in a hosting company. 7 great years with HIPPA Vault – and no issues along the way. Thank you HIPPA Vault!!!” — Henry T.

2. EnGuard (Enterprise Guardian): Best for small or medium-sized healthcare organizations

EnGuard’s email system ensures you can protect the integrity of your clients’ personal health information.

Overall Capterra rating: Not available

Key features

EnGuard prides itself on offering collaborative, HIPAA-friendly, and secure email services with end-to-end data encryption. In addition, EnGuard also offers telehealth, chat, and web-hosting services.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Responsive customer support
• Con: It doesn’t have the features to support large healthcare organizations or enterprises.

Pricing

Prices start at $10 per month.

User review

“I give Enterprise Guardian my very highest recommendation for a versatile, easy to use email system with the possibility of encryption. The customer support team are simply the best! Any question you have, they will answer immediately or within a brief time. It’s simple to use, yet sophisticated. I especially like how I can search for old emails easily. I do this several times a day. You can save emails, and block spam emails easily to keep your email system more free and clear. You won’t be disappointed!” — Bill M.

3. Jotform: Best for emailing online forms

While not an email solution, Jotform enables therapists to create online forms with features that help with HIPAA compliance and send them to patients via email.

Overall Capterra rating: 4.7/5

Key features

What if you could send patients secure forms, enabling them to review session notes or evaluate their own progress with the click of a button? This is possible with online form builder Jotform, thanks to its HIPAA-friendly online forms.

With Jotform, you can use forms to create daily journals for your patients that you can both easily review. You can even create psychiatric evaluation questionnaires for your patients to take in the comfort and privacy of their own homes — all on a safe, reliable, 256-bit secure sockets layer (SSL) connection.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Jotform comes with thousands of HIPAA-friendly templates for many business processes.
• Con: Jotform isn’t an email solution; it only allows you to send online forms through email.

Pricing

Jotform offers a free Starter plan, but features that help with HIPAA compliance are only available with the Gold and Enterprise plans. The Gold plan is $49 per month when billed annually. Enterprise plans are available for custom pricing.

User review

“I like the ease of use and the conditional formatting. I love the API features and the fact it interconnects with the other products that make my business work.” — Natasha A. 

4. MailHippo: Best for using your existing email address

Next on our list of email tools that help with HIPAA compliance for therapists is simple, affordable MailHippo.

Overall Capterra rating: Not available

Key features

MailHippo offers an extra layer of email security without a lot of frills. You can even keep your own email address with MailHippo, regardless of email provider.

All you have to do is log into the MailHippo site using your preferred email and password, and create and send your email like normal. Then, once your recipient receives the email from you, they’ll see a secure message notification with a link. After clicking the link and logging into MailHippo, they’ll have immediate access to your message.

Pros and cons

• Pro: You don’t have to change your email address to use MailHippo.
• Con: The free plan only comes with 1,000 messages per month.

Pricing

MailHippo offers a 30-day free trial, and paid plans are either $4.95 or $7.95 per user, per month.

User review

“I have patients who are seniors or have disabilities. They have difficulty or get confused with complex security checks to access email that helps with HIPAA compliance. Asking them to go through several steps to read their email message is a barrier for them. MailHippo is simple to use and pricing is great. I’ve recommended MailHippo to my colleagues already.” — Amy

5. Hushmail: Best for solo therapy practices

Best for small businesses, email provider Hushmail has all the tools you need to keep your data safe and secure.

Overall Capterra rating: 4.6/5

Key features

This powerful solution lets you send and receive encrypted email, use drag-and-drop functionality to build secure web forms, and even collect legally binding e-signatures.

Pros and cons

• Pro: You can use it to create alias emails for different business processes.
• Con: It doesn’t have the features or infrastructure to support larger practices.

Pricing

With Hushmail, email that helps with HIPAA compliance starts at $11.99 per month.

User review

“I really appreciate the email/data encryption that Hushmail provides. It is nice to not have to worry about whether personal information will be leaked or stolen when I am sending it over email.” — Kiley A.

6. Aspida Mail: Best for simple email setup

Aspida Mail keeps simplicity at the forefront of its features and offerings while enabling HIPAA compliance.

Overall Capterra rating: Not available

Key features

Though Aspida Mail doesn’t offer as many unique features as some other email tools that help with HIPAA compliance for therapists, it does include integrations with popular apps (like Microsoft Outlook, Windows Live Mail, and more) and a dedicated hardware firewall to keep your data safe.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Setup is easy and seamless.
• Con: The software’s basic features may not meet everyone’s needs.

Pricing

Aspida Mail charges $10 per month for an address with its domain or $15 to use your own.

User review

Not available 

7. Paubox: Best for large medical facilities and hospitals

Paubox ensures medical and personal health information remains secure in outgoing emails.

Overall Capterra rating: 5/5

Key features

You can send emails that help with HIPAA compliance through your computer or mobile device like normal — no patient portal sign-in necessary.

Paubox also offers marketing services that help with HIPAA compliance and access to its API so you can send more personalized emails and appointment reminders to improve the patient experience.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Email encryption is always on, so you don’t need to worry about it.
• Con: The dashboard and reporting features are basic.

Pricing

Pricing starts at $29 for up to five users, billed annually.

User review

“Once you get through the front-end installation process, it’s exactly like using Gmail, just with your own domain’s email address. So, you have all the Gmail features such as setting up filters, folders, auto-responses, etc.” — Laura K.

8. MD OfficeMail: Best for pricing flexibility

MD OfficeMail offers secure and convenient email solutions as well as fax services that are all HIPAA-friendly.

Overall Capterra rating: Not available

Key features

In addition to offering email services that help with HIPAA compliance, MD OfficeMail also includes other popular features — like the ability to view and download archived messages, build forms, request two-factor authentication for added security, customize logos and banners, and even schedule appointments and deadlines using its built-in calendar.

Pros and cons

• Pro: You have the flexibility to pay only for the features you need.
• Con: The website is outdated and difficult to navigate.

Pricing

You only have to pay for the features you use with MD OfficeMail. For example, if you own a small practice and only need email tools that help with HIPAA compliance for therapists, you pay just $1.89 per mailbox, per month.

User review

Not available

9. Send It Secure: Best for multiple industries

Send it Secure by Protected Trust is an email encryption product used in many industries, including medical and dental.

Overall Capterra rating: Not available

Key features

Send It Secure helps users send and receive safe, secure emails that meet both HIPAA and The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA) regulations. (GLBA is also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act.)

This robust encryption, which works with your existing email provider, uses automatic read receipts, powerful third-party integrations, message expiration capabilities, and recipient authentication methods to optimize and secure your email delivery service.

Pros and cons

• Pro: It meets compliance regulations for health, finance, and legal industries.
• Con: Some messages may be automatically deleted after a certain period of time.

Pricing

Send It Secure offers a 15-day free trial. Paid plans are $15 per first user, per month. Additional users are $12 per user, per month.

User review

“The part I like best about Protected Trust is the ability to set the authentication for each recipient individually using a password or other means. I like being able to control how people end up accessing my emails. I also like the recent recipients feature since my address book is obviously not in Protected Trust. I also like that you can send a secure copy to yourself.” — Nick R.

10. Egress: Best for stopping cyberattacks

Egress is a HIPAA-friendly email security system that claims it stops up to 97 percent more cyberattacks than other solutions.

Overall Capterra rating: 4.1/5

Key features

Egress provides automatic email inspection, contextual machine learning technology, and built-in dashboards that help you identify specific areas of risk, enabling you to reduce data loss, minimize cybersecurity attacks, and, most importantly, remain HIPAA-friendly.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Implementation is easy with the help of the Egress support team.
• Con: There are issues with rolling out the software with Outlook.

Pricing

Egress offers different levels of email security. The Egress Protect plan offers secure, encrypted email for $112.50 per user, per year.

User review

“We have all sorts of firewalls in software to screen out malicious emails. However, when some emails get through it is the end user who has to decide whether to push or not. This program gives banners to help identify suspicious and malicious emails. Helps to eliminate human error, which is where all our mistakes have been made.”  — Howard O.

Which email alternative solution that helps with HIPAA compliance should you choose?

Now that you have a better understanding of why HIPAA compliance is so important, you’ll be in a better position to go through this list of email tools that help with HIPAA compliance for therapists and find the best one for your practice. Ultimately, no matter which one you choose, you can trust your patients’ data will be well protected.