In our on-going commitment to improve services, Virginia Center for Medicine offers secure online access to some of your medical records and the ability to communicate with your provider and care team. Secure messaging can be a helpful tool, but has certain risks. By clicking Next, you accept the risks and agree to follow the Terms of Use as described below.

I. Terms of Use – General Policies and Procedures

Use the Portal to send Secure Messages:

• For non-urgent medical questions, lab results, routine follow-up questions, etc.

• To update your personal information, for example, changes to your e-mail; home address or phone number.

• Double check your information to make sure it is accurate.

• Reasonable efforts will be made to respond to portal inquiries within one (1) business day, but no later than three (3) business days, after receipt. Response time may be longer if the Patient Portal service is interrupted for maintenance, upgrades, or emergency repairs related to events beyond our control. In this respect, you agree not to hold Virginia Center for Medicine, its physicians, providers or any of its staff, in any way liable or responsible to you for any such modification, suspension, or disruption of the Patient Portal.

• The Patient Portal is checked 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. You are encouraged to use the Patient Portal at any time; however, messages submitted after-hours, weekends and holidays are held until we return the next business day.

• Virginia Center for Medicine reserves the right to suspend or terminate user access at our discretion, at any time and for reasons that may include but are not limited to: patients not seen by their medical provider in the preceding 12 months or who have transferred their care elsewhere; portal non-use; or inappropriate, abusive or negligent portal use.

DO NOT use the Patient Portal to ask about (i) an emergency, (ii) an urgent issue, (iii) sensitive information (e.g. HIV, mental health, work-excuses, etc.) or (iv) patient complaints/grievances.

Communications May Become a Part of Medical Record:

• Messages sent via the Patient Portal may be included in your permanent medical record.

Changes to these Terms of Use:

• Terms of Use may be modified from time to time.

• If material modifications to the Terms of Use are made, information will be posted in the Patient Portal notifying you that a material change has been made.

• If you then continue to use the Patient Portal, you will be deemed to have agreed to follow the modified Terms of Use.

• If you do not agree with the modified Terms of Use, then you must notify us that you no longer wish to use the Patient Portal.

Medical Advice and Information Disclaimer:

The Patient Portal may include general information or education that should not be construed as specific medical advice or instruction. Nothing in the Patient Portal is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered complete or relied on to suggest a course of treatment for a particular individual. You should always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and you should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of general information or education you may find on the Patient Portal. When Virginia Center for Medicine posts information provided by a third party, Virginia Center for Medicine will make reasonable efforts to credit the source. Virginia Center for Medicine does not warrant, either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the information posted, but believes all statements made to be reliable and accurate based upon representations made by the authors themselves. Virginia Center for Medicine accepts no fault or liability for any error or omission with respect to such statements.

II. Terms of Use – Privacy and Security

Privacy:

• All messages sent to you in the Patient Portal will be encrypted.

• E-mails from you to any staff member should be sent through the Patient Portal or they are not secure.

• All e-mail address lists will be kept confidential and such lists will not be shared with other parties, unless necessary to carry out Patient Portal operations (e.g. perform system upgrades to the Portal) or required by law.

• A variety of healthcare and administrative personnel (such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, certified medical assistants, clerks, etc.) will be involved in reading, processing and replying to your messages and information submitted through the Patient Portal. (Similar to how phone communication is handled). Staff members other than your physician will be involved in receiving your messages and routing them to your doctor, a nurse, or the front desk, as necessary.

• There is no need to notify us that you have read a message, unless you have a question or need further information.

• Read our Privacy Practices Notice for information on how private health information is handled in our organization.

• If you have concerns, please ask to speak with your nurse, the Medical Operations Manager, or the privacy officer.

How Secure Patient Portal Works:

The Patient Portal is a webpage that uses encryption and other security measures designed to keep unauthorized persons from reading communications, information, or attachments. Secure messages and information are designed to be read only by someone who knows the right password or pass-phrase to log in to the Patient Portal site.

How to Participate in our Patient Portal:

You will be provided with a web URL link via email providing your user name and default password. Your email address will be your user name. After logging in you will be asked to confirm your birthdate and gender. Next you will be required to update your password. Please choose something secure and do not share that password with anyone else. This is essential to make sure your information remains secure and private! The final option presented will be to choose a Secret Question from the dropdown choices. After completing these steps you will have access to the portal site.

Protecting Your Private Health Information and Risks:

This method of communication and viewing information through the Patient Portal is designed to prevent unauthorized parties from being able to access or read messages during transmission by using SSL security and 2048 bit key length encryption. Other security measures protect information maintained within the Patient Portal site. The website for the Patient Portal has a trusted site certificate, which is viewable from your browser’s task bar. (You can learn more about trusted sites by clicking the “lock” icon in your web browser toolbar.) 

Keeping messages secure depends on two additional factors: a) the secure message must reach the correct e-mail address, and b) only the authorized individual must be able to get access to it. Only you can make sure these two factors are present. Please make sure that we have your correct e-mail address and are informed if it ever changes. You also need to keep track of who has access to your Patient Portal account, so that only you or someone you have authorized can see messages or other information in your Patient Portal. You should protect your Patient Portal log-in information from anyone whom you do not want to access your Patient Portal account and notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your log-in information or you believe your log-in is no longer confidential.

We will not answer questions or send protected health information by regular e-mail. All health related e-mail communication will be done through the secure and encrypted Patient Portal site.

Even with these security measures, we cannot guarantee the confidentiality, security or integrity of Patient Portal information. To the fullest extent allowed by law, you agree not to hold Virginia Center for Medicine, its physicians, providers or any of its staff liable for network infractions beyond its control.