Patient Portal FAQ
What is a Patient Portal?
A patient portal is a website where you can review components of your Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center (CCOC) medical records. Using an internet web browser or a smart phone, you can review many records associated with your health care. This is a tool to help you better manage your health care.
For our patients who have visited our various clinics and offices, we provide the widely-used Medfusion portal. CCOC has selected the HealtheLife Cerner portal as the presentation method for patients who have had an in-patient or surgical procedure at our St. Thomas location in Akron.
What is the difference between the HealtheLife Cerner portal and Medfusion portals?
The HealtheLife Cerner portal provides records from your hospital visit at our St. Thomas facility.
The Medfusion portal supports all your visits at our clinics around the region. In the Medfusion portal, you can:
- View your clinical visit summaries
- Send and receive messages with your care team
- Request most prescription refills
- Update your demographic or contact information
- Update your personal health history – including allergies, surgeries, and any new medical conditions. The portal will communicate these directly to your care team.
The HealtheLife Cerner portal does not support these features.
What health information is supplied on the portal?
Crystal Clinic is excited to provide our patients with access to components of their medical records and health information in an online format.
As we progress through the year, we will continue to add additional medical record and health information components from outpatient clinic visits and outpatient surgical visits to the portal.
Things you can view on the portal include:
- Most lab results
- Clinical visit summaries
- Lists of allergies that you have provided to our staff
- Lists of medications we have prescribed and of any medications that you have notified us that you are taking
We will send periodic announcements to let you know when new features have been added.
When are my portal records updated?
The portal record is updated:
- When the patient is discharged. Your records will normally be available 24 hours after your discharge.
- When the patient’s visit is reviewed by our Health Information Management department to assign diagnoses, procedures, and other information based on the medical record documentation completed for that visit. (This is often referred to as abstracting and coding.)
- If the Crystal Clinic manually requests an update.
Can I have someone check my records for me?
Yes, you can have a trusted person check your records.
Once you have registered in the portal, you can designate a Representative. You can grant them as much or as little access as you desire. You can revoke that access at any time.
Who can see medical records in the patient portal?
Protecting the privacy of your medical information is very important to Crystal Clinic.
By enrolling yourself in the patient portal and setting up a User ID, password, and security question that only you know, you are in control of who can see your medical records through the portal.
With the use of the Representative function, you as the patient have the ability to designate access to some or all of your portal medical records based on YOUR assignment of the Representative’s access. You control what components are seen by the representative, and have the ability to change that access at your convenience.
Until you designate otherwise, only you can see your medical records in the patient portal. In addition, you can also see the portal medical records of your minor dependent children and anyone for whom you have been designated as a Representative.
I have another doctor who is not part of the Crystal Clinic. Can I give them access to the medical records in the patient portal?
The Medfusion clinical portal gives you the ability to print your personal health record. You can give that to your physician.
Can I give my spouse or adult child access to my patient portal?
Yes, you may provide another party with access to your patient portal by designating them as a Representative.
Can a legal guardian have access to the patient’s chart?
Just as with the paper medical record, the legally appointed guardian of a patient may be designated as a representative for the patient’s medical records on their portal account if the scope of their guardianship permits access to medical information.
Once you have provided the required legal documents to Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center establishing your role as legal guardian, you can be set up as Representative to their portal account.
How do I get access to my child’s information?
As a minor child’s parent or legal guardian, you will have a sign-on for that child and full access to their records. Minor children are those under the age of 18 in most cases. For those with diagnosed cognitive disability, under age 21.
If you are using a shared email address, we will need to complete a special set-up process so that you may be designated as a Representative on their portal account. Please let us know at the time you are enrolling your child in the portal so that we may start the process.
Please note that once a child turns 18 they are considered an adult (unless otherwise legally designated) in the state of Ohio. After their 18th birthday, they will need to re-authorize their personal Representatives who may access their medical information through the portal. Similarly, the patient would need to sign their own authorizations to release protected health information when medical record copies are requests.
Who can access an emancipated minor’s medical records?
In accordance with state and federal law, the legally designated personal Representative of an emancipated minor may access the medical records of the emancipated minor IF they have been provided with that authority.
However, restriction to access of the emancipated minor’s medical records may be enforced if the healthcare provider determines that it is not in the best interest of the minor, such as in cases where there is actual or suspected domestic abuse.
State Law: Ohio Revised Code §3798.01 Protected Health Information (Definitions)
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3798.01
Federal Law: Section 164.524 – Access of individuals to protected health information
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/right-to-access/index.html
Clinical Questions
What should I do if I do not understand my health information?
Medical records and health information can be very complex – it is very important that you understand what the information about your health means! If you have questions regarding your health information, please contact your physician or care provider.
Can I contact my physicians through the patient portal?
If you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, do not attempt to use the portal to contact your physician. Please call 911 or the clinic to get immediate contact with your physician.
However, for many common questions, you may use the secure messaging system in the Medfusion patient portal for clinic visits.
Can I request prescription refills through the patient portal?
In the near future, most prescription refills can be handled through the Medfusion clinical portal. For now, please contact your physician’s office for renewals and refills as you would normally request refills.
Technical
How do I log in?
Enter your email address (Hospital/Medhost) or your user ID (Clinic/Medfusion) and password in the fields provided. You will be asked to provide the answer to the “challenge” questions. (You selected a password and challenge question answer during your initial portal registration.)
For detailed instructions regarding navigating around the portal, please see your patient handout or the portal help section on the Crystal Clinic website.
My patient portal account is locked out! What do I do?
As a security feature, if you fail to enter the correct password and user name three times in a row, the portal will block further access attempts for the next 15 minutes. You may try to log in again after 15 minutes have passed.
Why lock you out? This is a security feature to protect you from hacking attempts. A hacker will often try to access online accounts (of any type) by entering a known user ID (also known as a sign on) and then guess at common passwords. The lockout feature discourages those attempts.
I forgot my password! What do I do?
You are not alone! Forgetting a password is a very common problem
At the patient portal sign-on screen, www.crystalclinic.com/portal, click one of the Forgot Password links in the blue box at the left of your screen. Follow the instructions on the forgotten password page of the portal.
The portal will send a message to your email account within a few minutes with a clickable link. Click that link and follow the instruction to reset your password.
If you do not see the message within about ten minutes, check your spam or junk mail email folder. Sometimes your email reader will incorrectly classify those messages and treat them as junk mail.
The patient portal logged me off!
To help protect your medical and personal record privacy, the patient portal program will log you out after about 20 minutes of inactivity (i.e. no mouse clicks or menu selections).
This occurs as a safeguard so that if you happen to walk away from a computer or other device while in the patient portal, someone else who may use the device after you at a later time would not be able to access your information.
You can log back using your normal email address and password when you return.
I am having difficulty with the portal. What should I do?
First, congratulations on taking the initiative to access the CCOC patient portal!
While this may be new to you as a patient, we consider accessing your medical record and health information online an important tool in actively participating in your health care.
If you have not had a chance already, we offer online resources, including these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), short video demonstrations, and other downloadable patient handouts in the CCOC Portal website. Once you have reviewed these resources and find you still have questions, we are here to help.
- For questions about the CONTENT of your medical record, contact your provider’s clinic or office
- For questions about how to use the Medfusion Clinic portal, you can contact them by using the phone number and links on the clinic portal
We will respond to your question shortly. The Help Line is monitored from 8 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. Support calls received after business hours will get a response on the next business day. You can also contact Portal Help staff by using email at PortalHelp@CrystalClinic.com.
- For questions about getting copies of your medical records that may not be available on the portal, please contact the CCOC Health Information Department regarding Release of Information at 330-670-4076.
Do I have to have a specific internet browser?
The patient portal will work on all modern browsers, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
It will NOT work correctly on older browsers such as Internet Explorer.
Can I use my smartphone to view my medical records?
The Medfusion patient portal supports viewing your records the browser.
Administrative
Why can I not see all of my medical records from Crystal Clinic?
Some medical records, such as X-rays or the physician’s clinic visit notes, are not currently available in the patient portal. To access those records, you will need to make a request to your provider’s office.
Other records, such as some specific kinds of test results, may be delayed for a period of time until your physician has had an opportunity to discuss those results with you.
If you have already reviewed your medical records and health information with your physician and need copies of those records, you will need to follow the normal process for requesting medical records through the Crystal Clinic Orthopedic Center Health Information Management Department.
For more information and to download a copy of our Authorization to Release Protected Health Information, please visit our website at www.crystalclinic.com/information_authorization.
How do I know when new information is available?
You will get an e-mail message from the portal provider that tells you fresh information is available on your portal account.
If you don't wish to receive these or other e-mail communications from your portal account, you can manage your preferences by logging into your account, then navigating to the Profile menu, choosing Update Account and selecting the notifications you wish to receive.
Can I update my personal information on-line?
Each time you come to CCOC for an appointment or service, you should be asked to confirm and update your personal information, including but not limited to name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, employer (if applicable), health insurance (if applicable), etc.
If you update your information at the time of a service, visit, appointment or admission (any time you register for any kind of encounter), that information will flow to your portal account.
However, we know that changes can sometimes happen in between services, so you do you have the ability to update some of your information in the clinic/Medfusion patient portal. Once you complete an update, we will make an update in our hospital and clinic information systems.
How do I obtain copies of my medical records that are not in the patient portal?
If you have already reviewed your medical records and health information with your physician and need copies of those records, you will need to follow the normal process for requesting medical records through the Crystal Clinic Orthopedic Center Health Information Management Department.
For more information and to download a copy of our Authorization to Release Protected Health Information, please visit our website at http://www.crystalclinic.com/information_authorization.
Can I view my billing information?
Not at this time. The patent portal currently contains only medical information, not financial information. We partner with Odyssey Health Systems in order to provide billing services. Please use the following customer service numbers for assistance:
Facility Billing (Crystal Clinic Orthopedic Center Hospital and Clinics)
- Local Phone: (330) 668-7428
- Toll Free: (800) 818-0886
Physician Billing (Crystal Clinic, Inc.)
- Local Phone: (330) 668-6740
- Toll Free: (800) 818-0886
You may also find additional information online at http://www.crystalclinic.com/about_my_bill.
Can I pay my bill on-line?
Yes, on-line bill pay is available at using the link below:
https://www.crystalclinic.com/patient-information/billing-info/online-bill-pay
What should I do if I believe my health information is incorrect?
Every patient has the right to a complete, accurate medical record.
It is very important that your clinical information is correct to ensure the best care possible. In the event you review your medical record and believe there could be an error or inaccuracy in the documentation, you have the right to request an amendment to your medical record.
If you feel there is an error in your medical record, please first contact your physician or care provider with your concerns. If after a conversation you and/or your physician/care provider believe there is an error in the medical record, you will be provided with additional information to formally submit a request to amend your record through the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Health Information Management Department.
Email
Why are you requesting an e-mail address?
You will need an e-mail address to sign in and use the patient portal.
Your e-mail address is used to communicate important updates to you, such as new information that has been uploaded to the patient portal, special messages from Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center.
Will I get a bunch of spam?
No.
This address strictly for our patient contact and portal purposes only. It will not be disclosed to any third-parties.
I don’t have a computer or an email account.
You can get an email address from one of the many e-mail systems such as Google’s G-mail, Microsoft Outlook (Hotmail), Yahoo.com, etc. There is no charge for these e-mail accounts.
Most local public libraries have computers that available for use at no charge. Library staff can help you sign up for one of free e-mail accounts and show you how to use it.
One other alternative is to designate a trusted friend as your representative. They can check your records on your behalf.
What if my email address changes?
If you change your e-mail address, you will need to notify us so we can update your patient records.
You will also need to update your e-mail address on the portal using the demographics update section.
Can I use my email address from work?
Yes. It is your choice as to what email address is used. However, you may wish to consider your privacy concerns if you choose to use an email address from your place of employment. Employers are allowed full access to any email stored on their computer systems.