Health record download & sharing

Health record download & sharing: turn it on

Patients have the right to see, download and send their health information. Patient health record download & sharing gives them that in the portal: their whole health summary for any dates they choose, a readable copy or a standard health record file to download, sending it by email or securely to another doctor, a history of every view, download and send, a way to ask you to limit who sees their information, and a way to share links to health documents kept elsewhere. Your staff see and answer those requests in Hero.

1. Turn the feature on. A practice administrator opens Admin → Additional Features, finds Patient health record download & sharing, switches it on and presses Save Changes. It is off for every practice until you turn it on.
2. Check the portal switches it relies on. The portal’s Health Records feature must be on (Admin → Patient Portal Configuration → Features); visit notes appear only while Visit Notes is on; Share a link needs Document Uploads. See Patient portal configuration.
3. Optional: set up secure sending. Patients can send their summary securely to a doctor only when your practice has Direct messaging set up (see Health information exchange). Without it they can still download and email it.

What the patient sees: the health summary

With the feature on, the portal’s Health Record page opens on Summary, and its tabs are Summary, Visits, Education, Lab Results, Imaging, Letters (when Letters & Forms is on), Media and Activity.

Your health summary (“Everything … keeps in your record.”) is one page of cards, each with a count and opening on its own: About you, Your care team, Health concerns, Conditions, Allergies, Medications, Vaccines, Vital signs, Lab results, Imaging reports, Other tests, Visit notes, Visits, Procedures, Orders and referrals, Implanted devices, Smoking status, Social history, Screenings and questionnaires, Health status, Goals, Care plan, Family history and Insurance. An empty card reads “Nothing recorded.”, and “Your practice doesn’t record this in Hero yet.” when your practice doesn’t capture that kind of information. Codes appear as small grey text; times show in your practice’s time zone.

Choosing dates

The date chip (All dates to start) opens Which dates?: All dates, Last 12 months, A single day (for example one visit) or A date range, then Show. “Your choice applies to what you see, download and send.” The patient’s details, their care team and your practice’s contact details always show.

What is never in the summary

• Psychotherapy notes, and notes the portal would not show.
• Entries nobody has reviewed yet, such as history the patient entered that is waiting for your review.
• Visits you restricted from that reader. On their own login a patient still sees the medications, vitals and allergies from such a visit.
• For a parent or guardian of a minor: pregnancy, substance use and social history, social-needs screenings, and sexual orientation, gender identity, pronouns and the name the patient goes by — on top of what your practice hides from guardians.

Download or send a copy

Download or send on the Summary offers three choices, always for the dates shown (Dates: …):

Emails and secure sends together are limited to 10 an hour for each portal login (“You’ve sent several copies recently. Please try again later.”). Downloads are not limited.

The Activity tab: who viewed, downloaded or sent it

Activity lists “When your health summary was viewed, downloaded or sent, and by whom.” Each line names who did it and what (You viewed the health summary, … (parent or guardian) emailed the health summary to …, … sent the health summary securely to …), whether a send failed or was delivered, the time with its time zone, and the dates chosen.

• The patient’s own login sees everyone’s activity on their record. A parent, guardian or caregiver sees only their own, so a guardian never learns where a teen sent their records.
• Viewing the same dates again within 15 minutes is listed once; every download and send is listed. The newest 50 entries show.

Requests to limit who sees information

What the patient sends

At the bottom of the Summary, Ask to limit who sees your information (“Your care team reviews every request and replies here.”) asks:

• What is it about? — My whole record, or any of the summary’s sections.
• What kind of limit? — Don't share with my health plan (for care paid for in full), Limit who can see it, or Something else.
• Who should not get this information? (required unless it is about the health plan), Anything specific? and Why? (optional).

Send request lists it under Your requests as Waiting for the practice, then Accepted or Declined with Practice’s reply: …. The patient can Withdraw request while it waits.

What staff do

1. Open the list. Admin → Patient Registration, then Privacy requests (next to Profile changes; the badge counts requests waiting). It is for physicians, administrators, and staff who can edit patient details or manage sensitive patient identifiers.
2. Read the request. Each shows the patient and MRN, the kind of limit and the sections, Not for:, the details and reason, and who asked.
3. Answer it. Type a Note to the patient and press Accept or Decline; a decline needs the note. The patient sees your answer in the portal; Hero sends no message about it, and an answered request leaves the list.

Links and files the patient shares

The patient’s side

On Health Record → Media, Links to your health information (“Share where a document lives online, like an advance directive registry.”) has Share a link: What is it? (Advance directive, Birth plan, Records from another doctor or hospital, Care plan, Something else), a Name, the Link (starting https://) and an optional note. The patient can remove a link until your team has reviewed it; after that they see Reviewed by your care team.

The staff side

The chart’s Media tab shows Shared by the patient and outside records, with N to review while links wait:

• Patient links, marked Patient-provided, with who shared it (a caregiver is named with their relationship), Open on … (opens in a new tab), a Type to set, and Mark reviewed.
• References added by staff: Add reference or link records where a document is (Where it is kept, for example Paper chart at County Clinic) and/or a link, with a Type. Staff references count as reviewed and are never shown to the patient.
• Files the patient uploaded, the newest 25, each with Open.

Reading the card needs permission to view patient details or documents; setting a type, marking reviewed and adding references need the document triage or import permission. Front desk, medical assistant, nurse, referral coordinator and office manager role profiles can do both.