MyChart at the University of Rochester: Features and Benefits for Patients

The way we experience healthcare is changing, and the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is at the forefront of this evolution with its MyChart application. As a UR Medicine patient, you have the advantage of using the MyURMedicine mobile app to conveniently access your MyChart, a free online tool that gives you access to your medical record anytime, anywhere. MyChart is a complimentary online tool available exclusively to UR Medicine patients. The UR Medicine mobile app also offers additional features like locating our hospitals, urgent care, imaging, and lab facilities. Please note that accessing the MyChart features requires a valid MyChart account. This article explores the various features and benefits of MyChart at the University of Rochester, demonstrating how it empowers patients to take a more active role in their healthcare journey.

Accessing Your Medical Information

MyChart offers a comprehensive platform for accessing and managing your health information. Whether you’re maintaining good health or managing a chronic condition, we want to make sure you have your most up-to-date medical information available to you. It’s all part of our pledge to make our patients and their families more active participants in their own care.

Immediate Release of Medical Notes and Test Results

A new initiative makes all your medical notes and most testing results available via the UR Medicine MyChart application as soon as they are finalized. Rather than waiting for a phone call to get test results or operating under the “no news is good news” philosophy, you get information such as reports from x-rays and lab work delivered directly to you. Remember: With MyChart, you get your results at the same time as your provider. They will follow up as soon as possible with any necessary conversation.

Personal Health Record

MyChart allows you to organize all of your personal health information from multiple healthcare institutions into one personal health record, using Lucy.

Enhanced Communication with Your Healthcare Team

Staying connected with your healthcare providers is easier than ever with MyChart.

Secure Messaging

You can easily send a non-urgent message to your doctor, who can reply directly to you. MyChart messaging is a tool for simple, non-urgent messages about existing health problems. In an emergency, you should call your doctor or seek other appropriate care.

Medical Advice Messaging

Starting July 17, 2023, messages about a new health concern, or change in your condition that requires your provider to spend five minutes or more reviewing your medical record and providing a treatment recommendation to you may be billed to insurance as a medical advice message.

Streamlined Appointment Management

MyChart simplifies the process of scheduling and managing your appointments.

Requesting and Scheduling Appointments

Goodbye, phone tag! Submit new appointment requests in the app instead of waiting for a call or being on hold. In some cases, you can even directly schedule appointments on the app.

E-Check-In

Complete e-check-in on your app before you arrive at your appointment to make your appointment run as smoothly as possible. Having the MyChart app downloaded on your phone can save time and prevent extra steps when accessing these tools, to improve your healthcare experience.

Prescription Management Made Easy

Managing your medications is more convenient with MyChart's prescription features.

Refill Requests

Request prescription refills and communicate with your pharmacy and provider right in the app.

Automatic Refills

Ask about automatic refills. This free service refills your prescriptions before you run out and sends a message when they’re ready for pickup or delivery. Automatic refills, also called auto-refill enrollment, are an easy way to stay consistent, especially for long-term medications.

Transferring Prescriptions

Need to Transfer a Prescription? In the MyChart App, from the Medications page, tap Transfer Prescription and fill out the short form. You can move your prescription from another pharmacy to a UR Medicine Pharmacy.

Refilling Prescriptions

Wondering how to easily refill a prescription? Open MyChart and sign in.

Tap Medications (the icon with two pills) on the homescreen.
Select “Request a Refill.”
Choose your prescriptions. Check the box next to each medication labeled Refill due soon or Refill available, then tap Next.
Confirm your pharmacy. Make sure your preferred UR Medicine Pharmacy is selected. To update or add one, tap Manage My Pharmacies.
Choose pickup or delivery. You can choose Delivery or Pickup before submitting your request.
Submit your refill! Review your selections and tap Submit Request.

Medication Adherence Support

When life gets busy, it’s easy to forget a daily medication now and then. Taking your medication is about building reliable habits, not perfection. The right tools and a supportive care team can help. If you find yourself missing or questioning doses often, talk with your healthcare professional.

Pair it with another habit. Take your medication when you brush your teeth, make your morning coffee, or feed the pets.
Use a pill reminder box. These small organizers have separate compartments for each day and time of day. This helps you see whether you’ve taken your dose.
Set alerts on your phone. Set alerts on your phone. Use the MyChart To Do feature to receive reminders at the same time each day so you don’t have to rely on memory - and our pharmacy team can help you set it up when you pick up your prescriptions at a UR Medicine Pharmacy.
Ask your pharmacist about UR Medicine Pharmacy’s medication adherence packaging. Medication adherence means taking your medication as prescribed or sticking to your medication schedule. Your doses arrive pre-sorted into clearly labeled packets for each day and time, so you can easily see what to take next.
Track your doses on paper or digitally. If you tend to notice your bottle is empty before you remember to order more, MyChart makes it easy to stay on schedule.
Request refills in MyChart. Manage your prescriptions safely from your phone or computer.
Use UR Medicine Pharmacy’s free next-day delivery. You can pick up prescriptions in person or have them brought to your home. They’re delivered by UR Medicine’s own local team-the same people who work with your pharmacy.

Staying Organized and Informed

MyChart helps you keep track of your health-related information and stay informed about your care.

Health Updates

You get health updates right away.

Tracking Health Information

The app keeps track for you. Keep tabs on health-related information, plans, and more, including:

scheduled appointments
blood pressure numbers
medications you take
any tests or screenings you may need

Proxy Access

If you have children or others in your care, you can arrange for access to their records, via proxy, to assist you in managing their health and communicating with their doctors. You can easily access your MyChart without needing a computer.

MyChart for Research: Connecting Patients with Study Opportunities

Recruitment of participants into research studies remains a major concern for investigators. Using clinical teams to identify potentially eligible patients can present a significant barrier. The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is addressing this challenge through MyChart for Recruitment (MCfR), a new direct-to-patient recruitment channel.

Streamlining the Recruitment Process

To streamline the institutional approval process, we established a working group comprised of representatives from human subject protection, information technology, and privacy and vetted our process with many stakeholder groups.

Implementation and Stakeholder Involvement

In June 2020, the institution’s Information Systems Division shared that the upgrade to version May21 would include the Research Studies page. Key stakeholders were convened to establish how the Research Study pages and MyChart for Recruitment (MCfR) would be implemented, how patients would be informed of the change and how study teams could use it for recruitment. Stakeholders represented included: the Office of Human Subject Protection, the Information Systems Division (MyChart team), Academic and Research IT, the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) Recruitment Unit, UR CTSI Informatics and the Office of Privacy and Security (Figure 1). Research faculty representatives were also included and the UR CTSI provided project implementation support. The group met monthly. Organizational structure of the stakeholder groups involved in the development, review, and approval of the (MyChart for recruitment) MCfR process. The offices shown were represented in the working group. The offices in white reviewed and approved the process developed by the working group. CEO = chief executive officer; URMC = University of Rochester Medical Center; UR CTSI = University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute; MCfR = MyChart for Recruitment.

Approval and Pilot Program

Once approved by URMC and University Senior Leadership, the process was piloted with seven studies from May 2021 to September 2021. In January 2022, MCfR was made available to all research teams in the medical center. All studies were approved with several exceptions. First, studies of a sensitive nature (e.g. Second, we excluded studies that recruited individuals between the ages of 12 and17. As a result, studies enrolling children age 0-11 or adults 18 and older were approved to use the tool. Lastly, due to concerns about providing additional individuals with access to patient data, only medical center based principal investigators were approved for MCfR use. This eliminated researchers from other Schools at the University of Rochester (e.g.

Patient Notification and Opt-Out Options

Starting in October of 2021, we established seven modes of communication to inform patients about MCfR including how they can learn more and how they can opt-out of receiving MyChart research messages. The project, branded for patients as Research Connections, utilized all locations possible where a patient interactions with the system.

The MyChart for Recruitment Process

MyChart for recruitment process. A consultation with the UR CTSI Recruitment Unit is required to determine if MCfR is an appropriate recruitment channel. This consultation also includes assistance with feasibility to determine if the protocol’s patient population exists within the URMC healthcare organization. We used the TriNetX, LLC Query Builder (TriNetX.com) from the TriNetX University of Rochester Network, which allows researchers to query electronic medical records (demographics, diagnoses, visits, procedures, medications, and laboratory tests) of all patients from the UR Medicine and get de-identified patient counts back. The study team submits their protocol for institutional review board (IRB) approval, indicating use of MCfR, what data elements from eRecord would be used to identify potentially eligible patients and the study description patients would see on their Research Studies page. All study descriptions are required to include the following language: This study opportunity may not have been reviewed by your clinical care team. Click “yes, I’m interested” if you would like the study team to follow up with you about participating in this research study. Click “No, Thank You” if you would not like to be contacted about this study. You may still receive regular MyChart messages from your clinical care team about research studies. In order to use the functionality in eRecord, a study record is required. Following IRB approval, the study team and UR CTSI Office of Clinical Research enters the study into our clinical trial management system, OnCore, which is required to transfer study information over to eRecord. Only a member of the study team with study coordinator security level access and trained to use eRecord can send MyChart messages. This role requires completion of relevant eRecord training. Teams also plan, based on their resources and study requirements, how many individuals to contact at any one time. The patient list provided to teams is intentionally limited to 2,000 patient contact messages at a time. This limits access to identifiable patient data. Although this is the default, the team can request more than one set of 2,000 patients. The lists are a random selection of patients or teams can request a subset based on demographic or medical criteria.

Patient Interaction and Response

Once in MyChart, the patient navigates to their research section with information about the study where they can see information about why they were contacted and about the specific study for which they are potentially eligible (Figure 3). The patient then selects “yes, I’m interested” (if interested) or “no, thank you” if they are not. In addition to indicating “not interested” in the study, patients also have the option to opt-out of future Research Connections communications about future research study opportunities. In eRecord’s Reporting Workbench, research team members can see who did or did not respond. Study teams are only allowed to send messages to the same patient twice. Patients can be contacted concurrently about more than one study. (Step 8) If patients select yes, the designated study coordinator receives a message in their eRecord in-basket. Per their study-specific protocol, the research team then follows up with interested patients and are encouraged to follow up within 2-3 business days. When patients consent, the study team enters the patient into the clinical trial management system (OnCore) and updates the patient’s status accordingly as they move through the study. Screen capture from an example of a research studies page in the eRecord patient portal, MyChart. Study opportunities remain on a patient’s Research Page until the patient responds or until they are retracted. The latter can occur if the study team determines the patient is no longer eligible or at the end of the recruitment period when the study coordinator removes each unanswered message one-by-one. All patients who expressed interest were contact by the study team prior enrollment closure.

Results and Outcomes of MCfR

From 2021 through January 2023, we received requests to use MCfR from 59 studies and consulted on 51 (eight studies withdrew interest prior to consultation). Based on the 51 studies, the mean time to complete the MCfR process from consultation to sending messages was 231 ± 101 days (Figure 4). The average completion time decreased slightly over time. Nineteen studies completed set up for MyChart for Recruitment at the time of this data analysis. Thirty-two studies were still going through the set up process. The x-axis is the date the study team requested to use MyChart for recruitment and the y-axis is the number of days from time of request to activation of MyChart functionality in eRecord. Studies that were part of the pilot phase. Study requests received after the pilot phase.

From 2021 to January 2023, 19 studies sent 8,240 messages to 8,168 patients. Patients received messages from one to three studies. Table 1 shows the number of studies by participating departments that included both primary care (e.g. family medicine; obstetrics and gynecology) and specialty (e.g. The 1,878 responses to 8,240 messages represent an overall response rate of 23%. Of these responses, 1,242 (66%) patients declined interest and the remaining 636 (34%) expressed interested. Studies sent between 1 and 2,199 messages. One study only messaged one patient while other studies messaged hundreds or thousands depending on who was eligible. The study that messaged one patient did not get a response and a second study that messaged five patients received a response from all five. For studies that messaged more than 100 patients, the range of response rates by study was 7%-37% with a median of 20% and a mean of 22%. Table 2 shows the demographic characteristics of all non-deceased patients in the EMR and the patients who received a message and their respective response rates (sum of declined and interested). There were more women contacted compared to men and women had a higher response rate. There were fewer younger people and children contacted and their response rates were lower compared to people 35-95 years of age. Reflecting our patient population, there were more White patients contacted, and they had double the response rate of individuals who were Hispanic or from other races. Compared to all patients in the EMR, there were more people age 35-64 contacted. Table 3 depicts the study status of the 636 “interested” patients as of January 2023, based on data provided by participating study teams. The 480 “interested” patients were either not yet contacted by the study team or the study team had not updated the enrollment status in the clinical trial management system (OnCore). Sixteen patients were interested, but not eligible, while seven patients were eligible and but not yet on study. Fourteen patients were waiting to be consented, while 47 patients had been enrolled and completed the study (off study).

Many different types of studies can benefit from using MCfR to contact more potential participants than they might otherwise have been able to access. This includes not only interventional studies for specific conditions, but observational and registry studies. Studies could have very specific inclusion/exclusion criteria or very broad criteria. During the consultations, we found that investigators needed assistance defining the best inclusion and exclusion criteria to find the optimal population to query. Investigators also needed additional support writing study descriptions in plain language. With the launch of MCfR, there was confusion on the part of investigators about the policy for the use of MyChart for research. Our institutional policy states that MyChart can only be used for recruitment, specifically, for sending messages introducing a potential study. The only exception to this is that a clinician can send a regular direct MyChart message about a potential study to their own patients. However, how a clinician claims a patient as their own needed clarification. We determined that the clinician needed to be the assigned primary provider in eRecord and could not claim a patient as theirs if they only see them when other clinicians were not available. Our results to date show that 75% of patients remain with an “interested” status in eRecord and have not proceeded to the next step of eligibility. This could be due to the study team not contacting patients who are interested, not being able to get a hold of interested patients, or not updating the patient enrollment status in OnCore. Therefore, study teams may need to be reminded to update statuses or provided with other tools and resources that help them reach patients after they express interest. In order to limit access to patient data as well as help teams manage their workload, we could implement a test run of fewer than 2000 patients.

Key Benefits of MCfR

First, in developing MCfR, collaboration across multiple stakeholders reduced downstream implementation barriers. Second, our recruitment consultations increased substantially. Through this tool study teams were provided with information about other approaches to strengthen their recruitment that they might not otherwise have considered. Third, this new channel addressed a critical barrier to accessing patients for recruitment into research studies.

Additional Features and Information

Finding Locations and Contact Information

Find doctors, urgent care, hospitals, labs and imaging locations. To sign up for MyChart, you will need an activation code. This code allows you to log on and create your new MyChart user ID and password, which you will then use to log on to MyChart. weekdays: (585) 275-URMC (8762), 1-888-661-6162.

MyURMedicine App Details

MyURMedicine is a Freeware software in the category Home & Hobby developed by University of Rochester. The latest version of MyURMedicine is 11.1.6, released on 12/18/2024. It was initially added to our database on 10/19/2023. MyURMedicine runs on the following operating systems: Android/iOS.

App Compatibility

Requires iOS 16.2 or later. iPhoneRequires iOS 16.2 or later. iPadRequires iPadOS 16.2 or later. Apple WatchRequires watchOS 9.0 or later.

Languages Supported

English and 11 more English, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian Bokmål, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish

Age Rating

16+ 16+ This app has an age rating of 16+ with content restrictions. Some content may be rated higher, but access is managed by the developer through in-app controls.

Data Linked and Not Linked

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity: Health & Fitness Financial Info Contact Info User Content Identifiers Usage Data Sensitive Info Data Not Linked to You The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity: Location Diagnostics

Supported Features

VoiceOver Voice Control Larger Text Differentiate Without Colour Alone Sufficient Contrast Reduced Motion

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