With the growing number of patients using technology to access their health records online, many patients wonder why they are not able to view their lab results in their health records. In order to display lab results electronically in the patient’s health records, the lab company must have an interface with the physicians (EHR) electronic health record software. With thousands of lab companies located throughout the U.S. is it virtually impossible for any one EHR company to have active interfaces with each lab company in the U.S.
In the healthcare industry there are (2) ways lab results are provided to healthcare professionals:
Lab results are faxed over to the doctor / provider. If this is the case, the paper document must be scanned and stored in the health records as a PDF document
Lab results are sent electronically from the lab company to the doctors electronic health records (EHR) software
When the federal government mandated that physician must provide online health records access to their patients, they fell short on implementing a solution that would easily connect all lab companies with all EHR companies. As a result, patients that use large national lab companies such as LabCorp or Quest Diagnostics have access to their lab results electronically compared to patients that use local or regional lab companies.
For many patients the lab company used is mandated by the patient’s insurance company. Regardless of the lab company used, lab results are available electronically but must have an active interface between the lab company and the physician. If you do not see your lab results electronically when logging in to check your health records then you need to request that your physician contacts your lab company to complete an electronic lab interface.
As the leading technology provider for online access to health records, ViewMyHealthRecords.com has engineered our software to make it simple for patients to review their lab results online. Each time a patient has lab work completed by their healthcare provider an email alert is sent from ViewMyHealthRecords.com to alert the patient regarding the new lab results. The patient can follow the link in the email to login and review their electronic lab results. Thousands of healthcare professionals trust ViewMyHealthRecords.com to provide their patient 24/7 access to their health record.
If your healthcare provider is not currently providing online access to your health records then chances are they are not complying with these new federal guidelines. Granting online access to your health records is no longer an option but the law. To learn how you can access your health records online have your healthcare provider contact ViewMyHealthRecords.com.