Overview

You can document relationships between patients, or between a patient and a non-patient (e.g., an emergency contact who is not themselves a patient of the practice), in the Relationships block on the patient's chart. This is useful to be able to easily view this information and quickly toggle between related patient charts. It is also necessary to be able to:

  • Designate that "Bills are paid by another patient" (making the payor's saved payment methods available in the dependent's account, and making it possible to apply charges/ payments from one related account to another).
  • Grant patient portal access for one patient (e.g., a child) to another (e.g., their parent). 


Shared patient portal access is useful when family members are all patients of the same practice, and they want to be able to easily access one another's Patient Portal accounts and toggle between, for example, their own account and their child's account. This is most commonly needed in pediatric practices, or for elderly patients who have a family member who helps to manage their care.


The clinic is responsible for making sure that all required consent is obtained before granting shared access between accounts. And for ensuring that permissions are updated or revoked if/ when required by law.


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Details

Add a Relationship

To add a new relationship for a patient, click on the plus icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Relationships block.

  • Designate the type of relationship using the Set Relation drop down menu
  • Search for the corresponding patient using the Assign Patient search bar
  • OR, click "select NON-PATIENT" and type in the name of a person who is not in the system, adding details about the relationship and/or that person's contact information in the Details about this Relationship field.
  • Add any other notes or details about the relationship, as desired

Adding a relationship with another patient is reciprocal – a corresponding relationship shows up on the other patient's dashboard page, linking the two records via the Relationships block.


Edit or Delete a Relationship

Right click on the relationship/ name from the Relationships block where it appears, and click on the applicable Edit or Delete option.


Add or Manage Shared Patient Portal Access

You will see a "Manage Shared Portal Access" button when editing an existing relationship if you haven't already granted shared access for either patient (otherwise you should see the below dropdown appear automatically). Use this to give one patient in the relationship login access to the other's account, or to grant both access to each other's portal account. 


IMPORTANT NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure that you are complying with all applicable privacy rules and regulations when allowing shared access to the Patient Portal, and that you update shared access as necessary under applicable rules (for example when a minor reaches a certain age).



If a patient has shared portal access to another patient's chart, they will see a "Switch Account" option from the portal menu of their portal account (they will need to login as themselves first): 


pediatric, parent, child