Helping Patients Access Their Health Information

As patients, we all know how often we’re asked to retell our healthcare journey. But we don’t always have all of the details and not having complete information can have real health implications. By helping patients access their own health information, we can change this.

Think about the last time you saw a new doctor. Before you were even past the waiting room, you filled out the same health history you’ve provided a dozen times: allergies, medications, past surgeries, the year of that procedure you can never quite pin down. It's all written down somewhere, just not where you as a patient can access it. So, the job of remembering falls on you, appointment after appointment.

Connecting patients to their health information

Surescripts supports providing patients with their own complete health information. Through Interconnect^TM, patients are provided access to their own health information, through Surescripts Health Information Network^TM, a designated Qualified Health Information Network®, or QHIN^TM.

Interconnect supports individual patient access using the same process that enables access for organizations like health systems and doctor’s offices.

This was a deliberate design choice.

It means that Interconnect customers who want to give patients access don’t need to build separate infrastructure and workflows to make it happen. The same network that connects health systems to one another can also connect a patient more fully to their own health story.

Here’s how it works:

• The patient uses an app to request their records, verify their identity and send a request under the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement^TM, or TEFCA^TM.
• When the request reaches Surescripts Health Information Network, Interconnect validates who requested the information, matches the patient and identifies which connected organizations have the specific patient’s records.
• Interconnect responds on the organization’s behalf and facilitates the exchange of the patient’s records with their chosen app.

Empowering more informed health decisions

It can be challenging for patients to recall every important detail of their health journey. By removing this burden, we can make the healthcare journey easier for patients.

When an organization uses Interconnect for identity validation, patient matching and record location, the patient is more equipped to focus on their current health issue—without having to try to recall and retell their entire health story to every new provider they see.