MyChart —A New Mode of Care Delivery: 2005 Personal Health Link Research Report

Abstract

MyChart is one of the new, innovative features of Kaiser Permanente (KP) HealthConnect—the comprehensive, integrated, organizational, and personal electronic health and medical record. MyChart, an Epic Systems Corporation (Verona, WI) product, is a secure member Web site where registered patients can view portions of their medical record, and exchange secure messages with their primary care physician (PCP) and other recently visited clinicians. The KP Northwest (KPNW) Region, in Portland, Oregon, was the first KP Region to implement MyChart. Starting in late 2002, KPNW initiated a pilot project of MyChart as a stand-alone Web address in two medical offices.1 KPNW named this feature Personal Health Link (PHL). By early 2005, all adult primary care physicians and affiliated clinicians (both groups are PCPs in this paper) were trained and set up to use PHL. Patients who registered for PHL could send secure e-mail messages directly to their primary care clinician, incurring no copayment or fees. MyChart is now available to KP patients in all Regions, except Ohio, through KP HealthConnect online at www.kp.org.