Accessing Your Health Data

It is becoming easier and easier to access one's own health data. Many healthcare organizations offer patient portals, and many patient portals support the Blue Button and Get My Health Data movements. Although I have heard horror stories of some patients having to jump through an endless number of hoops (both administrative and financial) to access their health data, I have been relatively fortunate to be able to access lab tests, request medication refills, schedule appointments, and email my doctors through the Kaiser Permanente patient portal.

Recently I underwent a study whose results were not posted to the patient portal, and I was told that I needed to request my results through the medical records department. I was hoping for the best while fearing the worst case scenario that I would have another horror story to add to the numerous patients who found it unnecessarily difficult to access their health data.

Fortunately, the process at Kaiser was quick and easy. Upon calling my local Kaiser facility and being transferred to the Release of Information Department, I was sent an Authorization for Use or Disclosure of Patient Health Information form via email which arrived within a couple minutes of my call. The form was 1 page long and asked for my demographic information, medical record number, the recipient of the information, purpose of the request (eg, personal use, worker's compensation, FMLA, legal), which records I was requesting, media type (electronic or paper), delivery preference (electronic, mail, or pickup), and a few other simple questions. I completed the form in about 5 minutes, scanned it to PDF format, and sent it to the specified email address (alternatively I could have sent it via US mail or driven to the Kaiser facility to drop off the form in person). Within 24 hours, I received an email reply with a link to a secure file download of the study results that I requested.

Since it was my first time accessing Kaiser's Secure File Transfer, I had to verify my email address which took about 1 minute. I was then able to download my study results in PDF format. I felt that overall the process was quick and easy and that most people with access to email and a printer would be able to complete the process quickly and without much difficulty. Kudos to Kaiser Permanente!

Have you had any positive or negative experiences with accessing your health data?