Skip to main content

Military Health System

Test of Sitewide Banner

This is a test of the sitewide banner capability. In the case of an emergency, site visitors would be able to visit the news page for addition information.

Ask the Doc: What is the Patient Portal and What Does it Mean to Me?

Image of Chief nursing information officer in-processing trainees into MHS GENESIS. Army Maj. Cynthia Anderson, chief nursing information officer for General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, oversees the in-processing of trainees into MHS GENESIS, April 24, 2021 (Chad Ashe, General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital).

Dear Doc:

I have a few friends in the military medical community and I keep hearing them talking about this "MHS GENESIS Patient Portal" thing and how much easier it's going to make their job. I know a little bit about what it is but, not being in the health care field, what I would really like to know is what it means to me as a patient.

Do you know anyone that could provide a little more insight into what the Patient Portal is all about?

Thanks Doc!

-Patient Portal Perplexed

Illustration of a male face with the words "Ask the Doc"

Dear PPP: I realize there are a lot of changes going on out there with all the military medical treatment facilities transitioning to the Defense Health Agency. Things like MHS GENESIS and the Patient Portal are essentially the electronic side of that transition and just one more thing that we hope will make your life easier as beneficiary.

I contacted Air Force Lt. Col. John DaLomba, the health informatics support team lead and solution owner for the Patient Portal at DHA headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, and here's what he had to say about it:


Let me start with MHS GENESIS. That will help the Patient Portal make more sense.

MHS GENESIS is the new electronic health record for the Military Health System and the Department of Defense. The rollout started in 2017 in the Pacific Northwest, and it's been working its way, more or less, west to east across the country since then.

MHS GENESIS will replace the existing outpatient and inpatient electronic health record systems - what we call "legacy" systems - so that, eventually, all outpatient and inpatient documentation will take place within MHS GENESIS.

You are probably familiar with TRICARE Online. Your local military medical treatment facility will eventually transition from TRICARE Online to the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal, if it hasn't already.

So...what does this mean to you, the beneficiary?

The secure communication with your primary care team, appointment scheduling and ability to review information about your appointments and medical records will still be there, but there are a variety of improvements that will come along with the new system.

The secure messaging piece of the Patient Portal allows for what we call "asynchronous communication" with your providers. Beneficiaries can upload attachments of up to 25 MB, which is about 30 seconds of high-quality video and most pictures. In addition, patients are not limited to communicating just with their primary care team. They can communicate with specialty clinics as well.

You can log in to the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal and look up, print out or download clinical notes from a visit you've had with health care providers within the MHS. You can share that information with a civilian provider if needed. You can also view lab results and radiology reports. There's a health library that's available, too, so you can look up conditions and medications.

Once MHS GENESIS comes online at your MTF, you should also be able to make appointments online shortly thereafter.

Additionally, we've recently made changes to COVID-19 test results. They're available immediately and readily accessible in the Patient Portal. We also have the option to complete an e-visit if a patient suspects they have COVID-19. Once complete, a secure message is sent to their primary care manager so that team or that person can take appropriate action.

Another nice thing about this is that the DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs are using similar systems. They're essentially speaking the same language when it comes to electronic health records. If you're an active duty service member, or in the guard or reserve, this is going to help facilitate the transition from active duty status to veteran status. We spend a lot of time working with our VA colleagues. The interfaces of both patient portals should look and function about the same. Once we have this product up at all of our basic training facilities, an individua's medical documentation will happen on the same electronic health record system from in-processing to separation or retirement and beyond.

And don't worry about losing TRICARE Online immediately. It's not going anywhere for a while. You and your provider will still be able to go into TRICARE Online and retrieve any information that's there. Once we're completely transitioned to MHS GENESIS, then we'll start to phase out the old system.

We hope to have MHS GENESIS, and along with it the Patient Portal, "live" at all MTFs by the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024.


PPP, There you have it. It sounds to me like MHS GENESIS and the Patient Portal are designed to revolve around you, the patient. Keep an eye and an ear out for when it will be arriving at your local MTF if it's not there yet. I, for one, would encourage you to use it to its fullest capacity if you can.

Additionally, as we head into 2022, I would like to send out a special thanks to Lt. Col. DaLomba and all of the other experts that truly make Ask the Doc work. Without them, I quite literally couldn't do it.

And to our readers, as always...take care out there!

You also may be interested in...

How Health IT Upgrades are Transforming the Military Health System

Article
4/5/2022
Dr. Barclay Butler, the Defense Health Agency’s assistant director of management, spoke at the annual Health Information Management Systems Society conference in Orlando, Florida, in March. (Photo: Claire Reznicek, MHS Communications)

Implementing an Electronic Health Record system is key to modernizing the Military Health System’s patient care.

MHS Minute: March 2022

Video
3/31/2022
MHS Minute: March 2022

MHS Minute | March 2022

BJACH conducts MHS GENESIS exercise ahead of transition

Article Around MHS
3/23/2022
Military personnel during a MHS GENESIS exercise

The Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital conducted MHS GENESIS mock “go-live” exercises 9, 10 and 11 March at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, Louisiana.

NHC Corpus Christi celebrates MHS GENESIS launch

Article Around MHS
2/15/2022
Navy Capt. Jessica Bain, NHC Corpus Christi commanding officer, is joined by Lt. Cmdr. Angelica Garcia, MHS GENESIS site lead, Amber Medina, site integration manager, and Colleen Rock, program integration analyst, to ceremoniously flip the switch, celebrating the full integration of MHS GENESIS, the next-generation electronic health record system , which was launched at the clinic on Jan. 22

Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi celebrated the launch of the next-generation electronic health record system – MHS GENESIS, with ceremonious flipping of the switch on the clinic’s quarterdeck Feb. 4.

San Antonio Market successfully launches MHS GENESIS

Article Around MHS
2/4/2022
Military personnel taking notes on MHS GENESIS

After months of training and preparation, the San Antonio Market, to include Brooke Army Medical Center and Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, went live with MHS GENESIS in late Jan.

Lejeune medical personnel get ready for a new type of patient care: MHS GENESIS

Article Around MHS
1/20/2022
Military personnel preparing for MHS GENESIS

Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune beneficiaries. On March 19, 2022, NMCCL will officially transition to using MHS GENESIS, the Military Health System’s new structure for electronic health records, or EHR, for service members, retirees, and their families.

New Electronic Health Record Rollout Will Hit Major Milestone in 2022

Article
1/12/2022
Elaine Sanchez explores the new MHS GENESIS Patient Portal at Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Oct. 6, 2021. The San Antonio Market will transition to the new electronic health record system – known as MHS GENESIS – in January 2022.

Despite the hardships, 2021 was a year of great achievements for DHA, including the successful rollout of the new electronic health record MHS GENESIS.

WBAMC Prepares for MHS GENESIS

Article Around MHS
1/12/2022
MHS GENESIS

William Beaumont Army Medical Center plans to launch MHS GENESIS, a new electronic health record and patient portal, in the summer of 2022.

How Standing Up Regional Markets is Improving Access to Health Care

Article
1/11/2022
Air Force Maj. Megan George, a registered nurse assigned to the 633d Medical Group based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, retrieves medical supplies from a storeroom at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, Minnesota during COVID-19 response operations, Dec. 7. The DHA has seen early success in replacing deployed personnel in their assigned markets (Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael H. Lehman).

Modernizations set in motion in 2021 will optimize care and sharing of medical resources across services and the entire MHS, says U.S. Public Health Service Capt. Tracy Farrill.

'Open Notes' Approach Builds Stronger Provider-Patient Relationships

Article
1/4/2022
Open notes offer many evidence-based advantages through mutual communication, understanding, and collaboration.

'Open notes' enable two-way communication and feedback that encourages providers and patients to feel that they are not just on the same page, but in the same boat on a shared journey.

Patients can take steps now to prepare for MHS GENESIS ‘Go Live’

Article Around MHS
12/20/2021
MHS GENESIS

The San Antonio Market, to include Brooke Army Medical Center, Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center and the outlying clinics, will transition to MHS GENESIS on Jan. 22, 2022.

Access to TRICARE Online Patient Portal Materials Just Got Easier

Article
12/20/2021
Beneficiaries may access outreach materials by clicking the Patient Portal Outreach option on the menu.

TRICARE Online Patient Portal (TOL PP) outreach materials will be accessible without login on TOL PP

LANT Area Members: it’s your turn to receive your electronic health record

Article Around MHS
11/19/2021
Military personnel looking at a computer

MHS GENESIS, the Coast Guard’s new electronic health record solution deployed to the Coast Guard’s 26 clinics and 48 sickbays in the Atlantic Area last week.

Future Patient Health Education Portal Will Be “Source of Truth”

Article
11/16/2021
Military personnel typing on a computer

DHA is prototyping a Virtual Education Center solution to provide vetted patient information in an easily accessible online resource, aimed at providing quick and consistent answers to questions that inevitably arise between medical appointments.

MHS GENESIS ‘Super Users’ Fuel MTF Transformations

Article
10/26/2021
Military personnel cutting the cord during the system's launch

The MHS GENESIS Super User is the fuel that drives our MTFs’ organizational transformation.

Page 3 of 7 , showing items 31 - 45
First < 1 2 3 4 5  ... > Last 
Refine your search
Last Updated: January 31, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery