The health library is a unique feature on the MHS GENESIS patient portal, giving patients the ability to search for almost anything they would like to know about their health.

“If you have a health-related question about yourself or if you and one of your dependents are just looking for more information, this is the place to do that,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Kenny Bush, chief information officer of the Naval Medical Center at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. “It gives you the right information and is something that can be viewed by you and your health care provider to go over any clarification that may be needed.”

The heath library is accessible to patients through the MHS GENESIS patient portal online. Wherever patients have access to the patient portal, they will have access to the health library.

The library, accessible through the health records feature, acts as a database with an interface like an internet search engine.

“Patients will see a search bar at the top of the health library page, where they can input a term or issue and immediately receive results to select from and read,” said Bush. “The page also has ‘search content’ drop downs to further break down the search selection between health issues, medication, and lab results. You can also separate the searches by gender and age. Patients can literally search for almost anything related to their health and find information.”

According to U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Candace Stanfield, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Technology Management Integration Health Informatics Branch at the Defense Health Agency, the health issue tab provides a simple description of symptoms and treatments of illnesses, and the lab results tab provides the reasons for the lab work and how to prepare for the lab visit. “The medication tab gives you the different prescription doses and actually has the images of the pills in the catalogue of identification,” she added.

The health library goes a long way toward supporting operational readiness and provides beneficiaries with another source of health care information.

Health information on the individual level is protected under privacy laws, so those details are not accessible to anyone except the patient.

Bush added: “The information is quite extensive, and if there is a question, you can almost surely find it in the health library.”

Stanfield provided an example of how the MHS GENESIS health library educates service members about their health care to remain ready and resilient.

“A person could be told to get a liver function panel test. And I always think that most non-medical personnel don't really know what the test is looking for,” said Stanfield. “The health library will break down the tests by blood levels and enzymes along with definition for better understanding. This, in turn, can help keep members more compliant with health care needs, which will result in increased readiness.”

Visit the MHS GENESIS patient portal to access the health library.