How to Combine Medical Records From Different Health Systems

Start with each health system's patient portal. If you have MyChart accounts at more than one health system, check whether they can be linked. Then download or request a copy of your records from each place, and keep every file together with where it came from and its date. A single combined view is a convenience; the files themselves are the record.

For the step-by-step on one portal, see our guide to downloading lab results from MyChart. For the rules on asking a records office for a copy, see your HIPAA right to your medical records.

Step 1: List every place that has records about you

Write down each hospital, clinic, lab and imaging center, with rough dates. If you moved, include the places in your old city. The National Institute on Aging suggests giving a new doctor the names and addresses of your former doctors, especially if they are in a different city.

Step 2: Try linking your MyChart accounts

1. Sign in to one of your MyChart accounts.
2. Look for a page called Link My Accounts. Epic's help says that if your organizations both take part, you can link them there to see information from all of them in one view.
3. Epic also describes MyChart Central, which gives you one login for the MyChart accounts of several organizations. If a health system does not take part, Epic says you might not be able to find it.
4. Epic says Happy Together might not be available to you yet, depending on your provider's version of Epic. If you cannot find the option, move on to step 3. Menu names can differ by health system.

Step 3: Get a copy from each place

1. For each portal, look for a way to download or print your results and your record. Our MyChart download guide lists the general steps.
2. HHS says that if your doctor has a web portal, you may be able to view and download your information whenever you want, and that in most cases you can get a copy the way you want it, such as by email. HHS also says a doctor normally has up to 30 days to provide a copy.
3. If a place has no portal or is missing results, ask its records office for an electronic copy. Say which dates you want. HealthIT.gov (ONC) lists a full record as one option and says it is the choice to consider when switching to a new primary care provider.
4. If you are moving to a new doctor, our guide to sending records to a new doctor covers who sends what.

Step 4: Keep the lab trends honest

MedlinePlus says to check the reference range printed on your own lab report, that you cannot compare your results to ranges you find elsewhere, and that results from different labs cannot be compared directly. So when you gather results from several health systems, keep these together for each result:

• The test name, the value and the unit.
• The date it was drawn.
• The range printed on that lab report.
• Which health system or lab it came from.

What to do with the files

Put every file in one folder, named with the test or visit, the date and the source. Phi Longevity PRISM can read PDFs, photos of printouts and spreadsheets from several places, and at participating Epic health systems you can also connect MyChart directly. It builds a one-page Care Team Brief with each result, its date and source, how it has changed over time, and the guideline behind each flag. It uses the range printed on your own lab report and never swaps in its own. You can print the brief or save it as a PDF.

Start free: connect MyChart or upload your files →

What Phi Longevity PRISM does not do

It does not merge your records inside any health system's own chart, and it does not replace the records a doctor's office asks for. It reads lab results today; medicines, diagnoses and allergies are not imported yet. It does not diagnose, and your doctor decides what your results mean for you.