OutSmart EMR Knowledgebase

Learn to work smarter, faster.

Providing Patients Access To Their Medical Records

Security Considerations

Medical Records Access Codes permit an individual to gain access to their medical data online.  However, if this code is lost or falls into the wrong hands, it presents a very urgent security consideration.  Should you ever suspect that a patient’s medical data is being accessed online by unauthorized individuals, you must immediately revoke access to those records.

You can do this from the Client Workspace.  Open up the Client Workspace, and then click on the tab at the top right that is called “Patient Portal Access”.  In this tab, if you see that there is a patient portal account that has access to this patient’s medical records, immediately click on the “Revoke Access” button to remove access.

Revoking access to medical records.

Revoking access to medical records.

Send Patients a Medical Records Access Code

If your client / patient wants to gain access to their medical data online, you will need to provide them with an access code.

If your client / patient wants to gain access to their medical data online, you will need to provide them with an access code.  Access codes can be redeemed by a patient in their Patient Portal to gain access to multiple patient records.  This means that a single individual can redeem access codes for all their family members if they want to consolidate access to their medical records into a single Patient Portal account.

Access codes for Medical Records can only be provided directly by the clinic to the patient, and are never sent out automatically.  You will provide the access code to your client whenever they first come into the clinic.  Here are the steps to generate and provide Medical Records access codes to your patients:

  1. Go to the Patient Workspace for that patient.
  2. Click on the Patient Portal Access tab at the top right of the Patient Workspace.
  3.  Click on the “Request Access Code button in order to generate a code.
  4. Click on the “Print” button to generate a printout of the access code, with instructions on how to use it.  Give this paper to your patient.

Request and generate the access code.

Request and generate the access code.

Print the Acces Code Instructions

Print the Acces Code Instructions

The printed Access Code provides instructions.

The printed Access Code provides instructions.

Revoke access to a Patient Record

We recommend that you follow-up with patients who have been given access codes to ensure that they have used them.  Access codes will give whoever uses them access to sensitive medical data, so it is best to verify with your patients that they did indeed use the code.  If needed, you can revoke access to a patient’s record by deleting the access permission in the Client Workspace.  This is done in the same place as where the code was originally created.

Revoke access to a Patient Record

Revoke access to a Patient Record