Short answer: Sign in to MyChart in a web browser, open Document Center (usually under Your Menu or Health), select Visit Records, and choose a single visit, a date range or all visits. Select Download, confirm the request, then download the file from Requested Records when it is ready. It usually arrives as a ZIP folder holding a PDF you can read, and some health systems add a summary file meant for other systems. Menu names vary by health system.
MyChart is the patient portal that many health systems license from Epic, and each organization runs its own version. That has two practical effects. First, you download from each organization separately: a MyChart account at one hospital holds that organization's record, and Epic's Happy Together feature, where your organizations take part, links those accounts so you can see their information in one view. Second, the menu names below are the ones Epic and several health systems use in their own help pages, but your organization may label or arrange them a little differently.
Use a computer or a phone's web browser if you can. Austin Regional Clinic's guide notes that if you start a visit-records download in the MyChart mobile app, you are redirected to your account in your mobile internet browser. Have somewhere safe to save the file, because it contains your health information.
These steps follow the published guides from Austin Regional Clinic, Northeast Georgia Health System and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, all of which use Epic MyChart. Epic's own MyChart site describes the same capability: view, download or send a copy of specific visit summaries or your entire health record.
| Step | What to do | What you will see |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sign in to your health system's MyChart | Your MyChart home page |
| 2 | Open Your Menu (Document Center is often in a My Record section) or Health, and select Document Center | A page of documents on file, such as After Visit Summaries |
| 3 | Select Visit Records | Choices such as Single Visit, Date Range, All Visits and a short health summary (some health systems still call it the Lucy Summary) |
| 4 | Pick what you want, then select Download and confirm the request | MyChart takes you to Requested Records |
| 5 | Wait for the file to be prepared; refresh the page if needed | Larger requests take longer; a Download button appears when it is ready |
| 6 | Select Download (you may be asked to confirm) and save the file | A ZIP (compressed) folder in your downloads |
| 7 | Unzip the folder and open the PDF | The visit records or health summary you requested |
Document Center is not the only route. Epic's Share your medical record page and MyChart help pages describe several more, and which ones you see depends on what your health system has turned on. The last row shows how one large health system, Kaiser Permanente, labels its version.
| Option | What you get | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Formal copy of your health record | A PDF with your organization's letterhead; you can choose some of your information, such as immunizations and medications, or all of it. Your organization processes the request, which Epic says might take a few days | Sending to a non-healthcare organization, such as an insurer, or to a provider |
| Computer-readable copy | Your entire health record in a folder with multiple files that a computer or app can read; the app you are moving it to should tell you how to import the files | Moving your record into another app or system |
| Test results over time | A PDF of a test's past results: Test Results, select the test, Compare result trends, then Download | Tracking one lab value across visits |
| Share Everywhere | A share code that gives someone temporary, limited access to information in your record in any web browser (Epic's help page calls it basic information in your chart); they can write a note back to your health system | A provider who does not have your record, including when you are travelling |
| Connect an app | You approve sharing, usually by signing in to MyChart; apps can request a standard set of data types (USCDI), you can clear ones you do not want to share, and you choose how long access lasts. Ending access stops new information, but the app keeps what it already received, so check its privacy policy first | Keeping an app updated without downloading files yourself |
| Kaiser Permanente: Download My Data | Kaiser Permanente's member site has a Download My Data Blue Button that produces a health summary as a ZIP folder containing a PDF and a summary file. The button's name does not by itself mean a given app accepts that ZIP; import the PDF, or check with the app | Kaiser Permanente members |
MyChart downloads usually arrive as a single compressed folder. Kaiser Permanente's help page explains why: a ZIP file is a way to include several large documents or folders in a single file, and its health summary downloads hold a PDF and a summary file compressed together so they can be transferred quickly. You need to unzip (expand) the folder before you can view what is inside. Northeast Georgia Health System describes its download the same way: a zipped folder containing several additional folders and files, one of which is the PDF of the record you requested.
| What you may find | What it is | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| .zip folder | The compressed package MyChart downloads | Unzip (expand) it; on most computers, double-click or right-click and choose Extract |
| The human-readable record or summary | Open, print, save or send it | |
| Summary file (often XML) | A structured copy meant for other systems. Kaiser Permanente notes that this kind of portable health summary is called a Continuity of Care Document (CCD) at some other facilities, and an older Cleveland Clinic guide, written for Microsoft HealthVault, showed a MachineReadable_XDMFormat folder that held a CCD file named DOC0001.XML inside IHE_XDM subfolders. Folder names in current downloads may differ | Keep it with the PDF; give it to an app or provider that says it accepts this format |
| IHE_XDM folder | A folder inside some downloads; Kaiser Permanente's current help page refers to it, and the older Cleveland Clinic guide showed the CCD file stored there | Leave its contents together if you plan to import them |
Some downloads are protected. St. Jude's guide says that if a copy of your record that you requested from the hospital is password protected you will see a warning before downloading, and you can select Show Password on the Requested Records page to view the password. Kaiser Permanente says an encrypted download stays encrypted only until you unzip it, so if your download was encrypted, it suggests deleting the unzipped folder inside the IHE_XDM folder afterwards to keep protecting your data.
Requested files do not stay in MyChart forever. Northeast Georgia Health System says its requested records become available shortly after you request them and expire in approximately one week, so download and save the file once it is ready. Other organizations may use a different window.
Kaiser Permanente names its files by download date and recommends adding the person's name after the date. That is a good habit for any MyChart download, especially if you manage records for a child or parent. Kaiser Permanente also notes its file is created fresh each time you download it, so it reflects updated information; download again after new visits rather than relying on an old copy.
Keep the whole folder, not only the PDF, and store it somewhere secure. Kaiser Permanente says you can carry the file to other providers on a USB drive or other transportable media, and asks that you copy the entire file and keep the medical data secure. For a provider who just needs to look at your record, Share Everywhere can be simpler than sending a file.
If you want one place for records from several organizations, a personal health record app can hold them. PatientPower, an independent app at beyondmychart.com, can connect to MyChart directly, so you do not need to download files at all: you find your health system and sign in on its own MyChart page, and PatientPower never sees your MyChart password. For records you have downloaded, PatientPower imports FHIR, Blue Button, CSV or PDF files, so the PDF from your MyChart download can be added; it does not state that it imports the XML summary file. You can also photograph a paper document or type information in.
Whatever app you use, read its privacy policy first. PatientPower's privacy policy says it never sells your health information and never uses it for advertising, that you can export your data or request deletion at any time, and that you can revoke the app's access at the source. PatientPower is for education and organization; it does not give medical advice. See Connect your Epic MyChart records to PatientPower, and How to organize MyChart records from multiple providers, for more.
A health summary is not your entire medical record. Kaiser Permanente says its summary shows the same allergy, immunization, health condition, procedure, test result and prescription information you see online, while a complete health record may include hospitalization information or a more detailed health history. If you need more, use the formal copy or computer-readable copy options above, or contact your organization's medical records department.
You have a legal right to a copy. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule at 45 CFR 164.524, a covered entity, such as your health care provider or health plan, must generally act on your request for access no later than 30 days after receiving it; it may extend that once, by up to 30 more days, if it tells you in writing why and when it will act. If the records are kept electronically and you ask for an electronic copy, it must be provided in the electronic form and format you request if it is readily producible, or otherwise in a readable electronic format you agree on.
If something in your record looks wrong, Epic's MyChart help suggests asking your provider to update it at your next visit, or contacting your organization's medical records department to request a correction. Under 45 CFR 164.526, a covered entity must generally act on an amendment request no later than 60 days after receiving it (it may extend this once, by up to 30 days). It may deny the request in writing, and if it does, you can submit a written statement of disagreement. Asking the source to correct it matters, because your next download will bring the same error back.
Related: How to get records from a provider that is not on MyChart.
In many health systems, Document Center is under Your Menu (often in a My Record section) or under Health. Inside it, Visit Records lets you pick a single visit, a date range, all visits or a short health summary to download. Menu names vary by organization, so check your health system's MyChart help if you cannot find it.
Sometimes only partly. Austin Regional Clinic's guide says that if you open Visit Records in the MyChart mobile app, you are redirected to your account in your mobile internet browser. A computer browser is usually the easiest way to save and unzip the file.
Usually a ZIP (compressed) folder. Inside is a PDF you can read and, at some health systems, a structured summary file. Kaiser Permanente notes this kind of summary is called a Continuity of Care Document (CCD) at some other facilities. Epic also lets organizations offer a computer-readable copy of your entire record, delivered as a folder of multiple files for apps.
It depends on the organization. Northeast Georgia Health System says requested records expire in approximately one week, so download and save the file once it is ready. Check your own health system's MyChart help for its window.
Not always. A health summary typically covers allergies, immunizations, conditions, procedures, test results and prescriptions. Kaiser Permanente notes a complete health record may include hospitalization information or a more detailed history. For more, request a formal or computer-readable copy, or contact your medical records department under your HIPAA right of access.
Share Everywhere lets you generate a share code in MyChart that gives someone, such as a provider who does not have your record, temporary, limited access to information in your record in any web browser. Codes are short-lived and the limits vary: John Muir Health, for example, says its codes expire within 5 minutes of being generated and access ends 20 minutes after the provider logs in. St. Jude's guide says the person enters the code at shareeverywhere.com along with the patient's date of birth.
Yes. You can connect MyChart directly, signing in on your health system's own MyChart page, or import a PDF from your MyChart download. PatientPower also imports FHIR, Blue Button and CSV files. PatientPower is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Epic.