MHS GENESIS transition By Cmdr. Emily Ward, Health, Safety Work-life Service Center The Coast Guard has transitioned from paper health records to electronic health records at all shore units (CG cutters are a future transition). The electronic health record system, called MHS GENESIS, is the same system used by DoD and soon, the VA as well. MHS GENESIS has a Patient Portal to allow patients to see records, appointment dates, immunization records, message their providers, and more. The MHS GENESIS Patient Portal may be accessed at https://my.mhsgenesis.health.mil/. MHS GENESIS and the Patient Portal continue to add new functionality and features over time. In the future look for PHAs and telehealth appointments to be integrated, among others. I’m having trouble accessing the Patient Portal. How do I get help? Your first stop should be your servicing clinic or sickbay. If they are not able to solve the issue, they can escalate the issue on your behalf. I’m a reservist and don’t get my healthcare from a Coast Guard clinic. Why do I care about the Patient Portal? The Patient Portal offers secure messaging that will allow reservists to upload dental and immunization readiness forms, copies of records, or other documentation into their record. Email and fax are less secure ways of transmitting this sensitive information. I don’t know which option to select when messaging records on the Patient Portal. When you send a message with records to your servicing clinic, there should be an option for “documentation” or “records” or “IDHS.” If you don’t see that option you can ask your clinic or sickbay to add a messaging pool for records or contact the Coast Guard’s Patient Portal Champion, Chief Joseph Salvati at [email protected]. Messaged records should be added to your record within three days. What records can I expect to see on the Patient Portal? In general, MHS GENESIS contains records as far back as your clinic or sickbay started using MHS GENESIS. Before that, records were on paper and paper health record information will not be available in the patient portal. There is a digitization effort underway for paper records that will be visible to your provider which can be released to you but will not be part of the patient portal. Some data, such as immunizations, may be available further back because they were entered in other readiness systems that are now connected to MHS GENESIS. Similarly, if you received treatment at a DoD or VA facility that now has MHS GENESIS, those records should be available as well. I have a hard time getting copies of my records from my civilian provider to upload in the Patient Portal. Consider asking your provider if they are part of the Joint Health Information Exchange (JHIE). JHIE allows patient records to be transmitted directly (and securely) directly to your clinic. https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Technology/Joint- HIE Where can I get more information? https://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Technology/MHS- GENESIS Where do my paper records go if I have retired or will retire soon? Depending on when you retired, your paper records may be at your Coast Guard clinic, currently in the process of being digitized, with the Health, Safety, and Work-Life Service Center (HSWL SC) Central Cell, or archived at the National Archives and Records Administration. The best place to start for recent retirees is with their Coast Guard clinic. For more information, contact [email protected]. . 36 RESERVIST . Issue 2 • 2023 CELEBRATING CELEBRATING 70 70 YEARS OF THE RESERVIST YEARS OF THE RESERVIST
