What Is Hushmail and What Is It Used For?

Hushmail is an encrypted email and e-signable forms service built for handling sensitive information, especially in therapy and healthcare practices. If you need to exchange confidential messages with clients or patients and collect intake details, attachments, and signatures without asking them to install anything, Hushmail is designed for exactly that. It is also used by small businesses, legal practices, and individuals, but the healthcare use case is the one the service leads with.

The two core things Hushmail does

Encrypted email

You send and receive email through Hushmail, and encryption is applied per message rather than being an all-or-nothing setting. According to the site, encrypting a message is a matter of clicking a toggle; a green lock icon confirms the message is encrypted before you send it.

The receiving side is where this gets practical. Your client does not need a Hushmail account, a plugin, or any download. They get a private link in their existing inbox — whatever email provider they use — and that link opens a simple page where they can read your message and reply. Replies come back encrypted, and clients can also start a new secure message to you on their own.

E-signable forms

Hushmail includes a drag-and-drop form builder aimed at healthcare intake. You assemble a form, and clients can submit intake details, attach files, and add e-signatures through a secure page. Completed forms land directly in your Hushmail inbox, which keeps documentation in one place instead of scattered across attachments and paper.

Who it is for

The site states that more than 47,000 healthcare professionals use Hushmail, and that the company has kept sensitive emails secure for over 25 years. Those are the vendor's own figures.

What it costs

Hushmail's healthcare plans start at $11.99 per month for solo practices. Small group practices with up to 5 email accounts start at $24.99 per month. A 14-day free trial for Hushmail for Healthcare is available if you want to test it before committing. Current plan details and any changes to these figures should be checked on the pricing page, since published rates can be updated.

When Hushmail is a good fit — and when it isn't

Choose it if your main problem is getting confidential information to and from people who are not tech-savvy and will not install anything. The private-link reply flow removes the biggest friction point in encrypted email: the recipient side.

Look elsewhere if you need a full practice-management suite with scheduling, billing, and clinical notes in one system. Hushmail covers secure messaging and forms, not the whole back office.

Also consider whether your compliance obligations extend beyond email and forms. Hushmail markets HIPAA-compliant email for healthcare, but the compliance question for your practice depends on your full workflow, not just the email provider.

A realistic example

A solo therapist needs a new client to complete an intake questionnaire and sign a consent form before the first session. Instead of mailing a PDF and hoping for a scanned return, the therapist sends a Hushmail form. The client opens it on their phone, fills in the fields, attaches an insurance card photo, signs, and submits. The completed form appears in the therapist's inbox. Later, when the client emails a question, the therapist replies with encryption toggled on, and the client answers through the same private-link page — no account, no app.