A patient who has a chart in the EHR can set up their own portal account (or reset their password, if they've already set their username) from the Patient Portal login page, provided that the following is true:

  • Status (under Patient Information) is Active or Prospective (not Inactive or Deceased)
  • Patient portal access is enabled, which in turn requires that the patient have:
    • A valid email address on file; and
    • ZIP code on file (note that if you do not collect zip codes, or specific patients have a non-US postal code, you can use 00000, which will make it so that any code that the patient reset requests will work to trigger that password reset link).


You can send the patient a link to set up their Patient Portal username and password (if they haven't already), or reset their password, either:

  1. From the patient's chart (so, patient-by-patient)
  2. Using the Patient Portal Onboarding Tool (to quickly invite multiple patients)


Or, if the patient does not have an email address, you can manually set their Patient Portal username and password.


Important Security Note: the email link that you send will allow the recipient to set up access to the patient's records via the Patient Portal without a need to enter any confirming information. So, before sending, make sure the email address is correct, and personal to the patient (i.e., not shared with others who are not authorized to view the patient's medical information). 


Patient Portal Invitation/ Password Reset Email from the Patient's Chart


1. Open the Patient Information pop out by clicking on the pencil icon in the Patient Information block.



2. Click on the Patient Portal tab and make sure that Patient Portal access is enabled (or click to enable access if it is not).

3. Click on the link near the bottom to Send invitation/reset email to the email address on file.


This will send an email to the patient with a link in it that they can click to set up their username and password for logging into the Patient Portal (if they've never set this up in the past), or set a new password.


Patient Portal Onboarding Tool

To send enable Patient Portal access and/or send invitation/reset emails to multiple patients more quickly, you would use the Patient Portal Onboarding Tool.


Manually Set a Username and Password

If the patient does not have an email address, is having difficulty receiving confirmation emails at their email address that you are not able to resolve (for example, by having them white-list @md-hq.com in their email client), or is otherwise having a lot of trouble getting set up via the traditional methods, you can manually set their Patient Portal username and password. 

  1. Click on the pencil icon in the upper right of the Patient Information block to open the Edit Information pop out.
  2. Click on the Patient Portal tab and make sure that portal access is enabled.
  3. Type in the Patient's Username field to set a username, if there isn't one already specified (text will turn green if it's valid and unique).
  4. Check the box below that to Manually Set Patient's Portal Password, and type in a password.
  5. Click Edit Patient to save.
  6. Communicate the patient's username and password to then in-person or over the phone.