{"id":11976,"date":"2017-07-11T09:17:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T13:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthit-gov.go-vip.net\/buzz-blog\/?p=11976"},"modified":"2025-08-21T18:28:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T18:28:07","slug":"understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Patient Experience to Improve Patient Access to Medical Records"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Melissa Crawford is a mother from Concord, NH.  Her two year old daughter, Ava, has a congenital heart defect and was recently diagnosed with epilepsy.  Melissa loves Ava\u2019s physician\u2019s patient portal since it allows her to easily book appointments and refill Ava\u2019s medications online.  But when Ava\u2019s pediatrician needed medical records from Ava\u2019s five specialists, the various patient portals did not provide all the health information the doctor needed.  Melissa set off on a stressful and complicated journey to gather the information from the five specialists in time for Ava\u2019s appointment with her pediatrician. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa is one of three patients and caregivers personas you will meet in The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology\u2019s (ONC) new report, Improving the Health Records Request Process for Patients: Insights from User Experience Research Link [PDF – 2.7 MB]<\/a>. \u00a0Personas, like Melissa and Ava, are fictional characters created based on real patients and caregivers we spoke with for this report. This report explores their experiences with getting and using their health information, exercising their rights to access provided by HIPAA.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patients Don\u2019t Have Easy Access to All the Health Information They Need<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although patient health data is now <\/span>available electronically more than ever before<\/span><\/a>, our research found that patients and caregivers still face challenges accessing the information they need, when they need it. While caregivers, like Melissa, appreciate patient portal features, they found their portals provide only a snapshot of their health information. Individuals who need more detailed data for their care often have to request their medical records through their providers\u2019 office or hospital.  The medical record request process can be confusing for patients to navigate and is not often available electronically. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After months of waiting and difficulties, Melissa successfully received her daughter\u2019s records but expressed frustration over the process: \u201cIt takes so much time.  I just wish the process was the same everywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Patient-Centered Request Process Benefits Patients <\/b>and<\/i><\/b> Health Systems<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The report also includes an analysis of medical record release information and forms from 50 large health systems across the country and the results of discussions with health system professionals and stakeholders.  We found that both patients and health systems have shared needs: like patients, health system\u2019s medical records managers are also burdened with a fragmented process.  But both patients and health systems have the same goal \u2013 to get the patient their medical records.  Improving the process is a win-win for both patients and health systems.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Action Today to Improve Patients\u2019 Experience with Accessing their Medical Records<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When individuals have access to their health information, they can better coordinate their care and have greater control over their health and wellbeing.  Innovations, like application program interfaces (APIs) and mobile apps, hold promise that in the near future people will be able to seamlessly and securely access, use, and share their health information.  But in the meantime, there are short-term solutions to make the process less stressful for everyone today.  Our report outlines design opportunities to improve patients\u2019 experience and create a user-friendly request process.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We drew upon the report\u2019s findings to develop new content in ONC\u2019s Patient Engagement Playbook. <\/span>Chapter 2.5: Support Electronic Record Requests<\/span><\/a> provides actionable tips for healthcare providers, care teams, and office staff to make the medical record request process more streamlined, transparent, and electronic.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019re a provider, hospital staff, an innovator, or a patient, everyone can work together to create a better experience for patients and their caregivers, like Ava and Melissa, and make it easier for them to get their health information when and where they need it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa Crawford is a mother from Concord, NH.  Her two year old daughter, Ava, has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_selected_menu":"","_show_breadcrumbs":"true","_blog_show_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"archived-category":[],"featured":[],"topics":[444,425,443,446,436,435],"class_list":["post-11976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consumer","topics-guidance-best-practices","topics-hit-policy","topics-patient-access-health-records","topics-patient-engagement-playbook","topics-privacy","topics-security-privacy"],"acf":{"blog_authors":[{"blog_author_profiles":"198658"}],"hp_news_hide":false},"yoast_head":"\nUnderstanding the Patient Experience to Improve Patient Access to Medical Records - ONC Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover insights to improve health record requests for patients and caregivers, enhancing access, reducing stress, and ensuring seamless healthcare coordination.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding the Patient Experience to Improve Patient Access to Medical Records\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover insights to improve health record requests for patients and caregivers, enhancing access, reducing stress, and ensuring seamless healthcare coordination.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ONC Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-11T13:17:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-21T18:28:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/08\/ONC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sleigh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sleigh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"sleigh\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0719592fcc77f0e269f191216da0aae7\"},\"headline\":\"Understanding the Patient Experience to Improve Patient Access to Medical Records\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-11T13:17:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-21T18:28:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/\"},\"wordCount\":632,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Consumer Engagement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/consumer\/understanding-patient-experience-improve-patient-access-medical-records\/\",\"name\":\"Understanding the Patient Experience to Improve Patient Access to Medical Records - 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