Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect™, our electronic health record, links all aspects of important member information — everything from recent office visits and lab test results, to prescription refills, and billing. It also enhances communication among Kaiser Permanente physicians and between members and their doctors.

Members appreciate having their medical information — including data on office visits, hospitalizations, and prescriptions — integrated into one secure electronic record. KP HealthConnect also enhances the way physicians work together. Specialists don't have to wait for the delivery of paper-based records and test results; physicians in multiple locations can view the same patient data at the same time, having a virtual consultation. With KP HealthConnect, patient safety is enhanced because caregivers and pharmacists don't have to decipher handwritten information in charts and prescriptions. If a member must be hospitalized, the electronic medical record speeds the member's access to care.

Members' tools:

• Online after-visit summaries that remind them of their doctor's instructions and comments
• Secure e-messaging to health care providers' offices, enabling them to handle some health issues without an office visit
• Access to lab test results
• Access to a comprehensive list of their immunizations and allergies
• Online scheduling and canceling of appointments
• Online refilling of prescriptions
• Online requests to update their medical records

Physicians' tools:

• Instant access to patient medical records
• Simultaneous access by physicians in several locations to the same patient records
• Electronic access to patient tests, reducing or preventing the ordering of duplicate tests
• Fast electronic distribution of best-practices information
• Online ordering of prescriptions