Heads Up: That Patient Portal May Contain Your Therapy Notes

Health care systems have been putting therapists’ progress reports online, much to the surprise (and anger) of some patients.

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[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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This happened to me at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. I saw a GI psychologist in the Center for Digestive Health before this law went into effect and I was livid when I found out that psychology notes in their department are accessible without an additional layer of privacy to ANYONE in Northwestern’s system or any provider that uses Epic MyChart at other institutions. I’m sharing the info to warn anyone else who may be concerned.

I found this out because when I attempted to transfer care with the support of my gastroenterologist and PCP, other psychologists declined to see me saying they had reviewed my records and did not feel it appropriate to see me because I had been seen by Dr. Pandit. It felt like they closed ranks on me.

I incorrectly assumed, because I had seen other psychotherapists in the system and my notes were protracted, that her notes would be protected too. They’re not. Medical Records told me they couldn’t do anything about it, but I could turn off Epic’s Care Everywhere which shares notes with outside providers and I did turn it off.