Last Updated: April 18, 2024
Henry Ford Health (“Henry Ford Health”) provides a web site and internet-based services offering a secure, private channel for healthcare communications with your physician, personal medical information storage, on-line healthcare information, billing and related products, services and content (collectively the “Henry Ford MyChart”).
1. Terms of Use.
Henry Ford MyChart is offered to you under the terms and conditions listed in this agreement. Henry Ford MyChart is only available to users that have an existing patient-physician relationship with a Henry Ford Health physician. We reserve the right to update or change these Terms of Use at any time and for any reason by posting the modified Terms of Use. Your continued use constitutes your agreement to be bound by any such revisions and you should therefore periodically visit this page of the website and print the latest version of the Terms of Use for your records. The date of the last update to these Terms of Use is stated at the top of this document.
2. Use of Services.
The use of Henry Ford MyChart is NOT INTENDED FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCIES.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING CHEST DISCOMFORT, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, EXCESSIVE BLEEDING, OR ANY OTHER LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY.
Cost. There is no charge for general access and usage of Henry Ford MyChart. Utilization of certain features may incur a cost and there will be a notice of acceptance of any charge prior to usage.
Appointment Requests. Henry Ford MyChart offers patients the ability to submit an electronic request for an appointment versus calling. You are able to provide available dates, times and location that is best for you. Please allow at least two (2) business days for the response to your appointment request, and additional time for request sent during the weekend or holiday.
Self-Scheduled Appointments. Henry Ford MyChart offers patients the ability to self-schedule non-urgent, follow-up appointments. This feature is available in select specialty departments, for certain visit types and only with physicians you have previously seen in the past 3 years. You are able to choose from a list of available dates and time slots for the selected clinic location and physician.
Prescriptions. You agree that any prescriptions that you acquire through the Henry Ford MyChart shall be solely for your personal use. You agree to fully and carefully read all provided product information and labels and to contact your physician if you have any questions regarding the prescription.
Educational Resources. Henry Ford MyChart may offer links to related medical Web sites not managed by Henry Ford Health. These Web site link(s) are for a patient’s informational purposes only. Henry Ford Health may make available self-care informational services which provide general medical and health information. These communications and resources are for general educational and informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for patient-specific medical diagnosis and treatment. These resources are not a substitute for seeing an appropriate healthcare professional for medical treatment.
Bedside. MyChart Bedside functionality displays when a patient is admitted to one of the Henry Ford hospitals. Patients and Proxies can see a ‘Your Hospital Stay’ section with features tailored to where they are in their care right now. It shows information like the principal hospitalization problem, schedule, and treatment team at a glance. Patients can tap icons to access additional activities such as education, medications, test results, etc. The patient and proxy-granted family members can see the patient's information immediately from anywhere, even if they can't come to the hospital.
Response to Electronic Communication – Henry Ford Health will make its best effort to provide a timely response to electronic inquiries. In some cases, the clinic staff that needs to respond to an electronic inquiry or other communication may not be immediately available so a patient should allow at least two (2) business days for a response, and additional time for messages sent during the weekend or holiday. Emergency situations requiring immediate attention should not be submitted electronically.
Furthermore, response to patient communication is based on information provided by the patient. We are only able to respond to such communications based on the information provided by the patient. If there is insufficient information provided, we will be unable to provide a timely and complete response. Some inquiries may require a visit, either virtual or in-person, to adequately address your needs.
Photos. Photos submitted via secure electronic messaging (medical advice, e-visit) to your physician, and may be reviewed by physician’s medical staff (nurses and medical assistants), and photos taken during a video visit (after the physician obtains your verbal consent) will become part of your Henry Ford Health Record.
To enhance patient safety, Henry Ford has an initiative to upload patient photos, a head-and-shoulders view, into demographic section of patients’ Henry Ford Health Record. This will include patient’s state ID or driver’s license photo unless the patient alternatively uploads a suitable picture of their choosing to their MyChart account using the website or mobile app.
Medical Disclaimers. You and your physician are solely responsible for all information and/or communication. The physician is only able to respond to such communications based on the information provided by you, the patient. If insufficient information is provided, the physician will be unable to provide a timely and complete response. You agree to contact your physician immediately should your condition change or your symptoms worsen. If you are experiencing an emergent or urgent condition, you should contact your local emergency services immediately.
Henry Ford Health Record - Your Henry Ford Health Record is created to store your personal health (including health conditions, allergies, medications, immunizations, and test results) and billing information online. You agree to provide accurate information for your Henry Ford Health Record, to periodically review such information and to update such information as needed. For additional information regarding use of your Henry Ford Health Record, please see our Privacy Policy. You may authorize another person (such as a family member) to access your Henry Ford Health Record and access shall be granted following the terms outlined in the "Proxy Access" section below in this Terms and Conditions.
Unified Health Experience: Health Information from other Organizations. You may see information from all health organizations utilizing Epic’s electronic Medical Record system at which you've received care, even if you don't have an active MyChart account at each one. Medications, allergies, and health issues from all organizations appear together to give you a fuller picture of your healthcare. If you have an active MyChart account at other organizations, you may also see test results, messages, and appointments in a combined view and take follow-up actions, such as sending a message, without having to log in to a different account. Displaying data from non-Epic organizations is not yet supported.
Before you can see information from other healthcare organizations, when you login to your MyChart account, you must connect your accounts and give consent for your organization to access your data. Only organizations that have shared or received your information through Care Everywhere appear in the list of organizations to connect. Go to menu option "Share My Record" to unlink any connected accounts or link to additional accounts at any time.
NOTE: Filtering of data to display or not is controlled by the organization that owns the data. Also, security to utilize or not MyChart features and security for proxy access is controlled by the organization whose MyChart site the patient is logged in to. Any questions about data displayed or not in MyChart, please contact the respective health organization associated with that information for assistance.
In addition to the above services MyChart can be used to access features which may have an additional cost:
E-Visits. An E-Visit is a non-urgent visit with your physician that would otherwise require an office visit. You may initiate an e-visit in which you answer questions based upon your general symptoms and/or conditions for assessment by your physician. Any information provided as part of an e-visit becomes part of your Henry Ford Health Record. If your health insurance coverage does not cover this service you will be responsible for any applicable fees. You are responsible for these fees and/or copayment charges and agree that Henry Ford Health, or affiliated private practice partners, may charge you for such amounts.
Video Visits. Henry Ford MyChart offers a secure channel to conduct scheduled video visits with your physician, or an on-demand video visit with an on-call physician, through the patient’s personal smartphone or mobile device. Personal health information may be shared during the video visit, the patient should be aware of their personal environment to ensure privacy. If your health insurance coverage does not cover this service you will be responsible for any applicable fees. You are responsible for these fees and/or copayment charges and agree that Henry Ford Health, or affiliated private practice partners, may charge you for such amounts.
3. Account Management.
Eligibility - An individual must be age 14 or older to request a Henry Ford MyChart account. Henry Ford reserves the right to modify permission or access to features based upon patient type restrictions, repeated disruptive and/or noncompliant behavior in accordance with HFHS policies. You will continue to be able to request access to your medical information in our records through traditional means.
Your Account - You represent and warrant that you are at least fourteen years of age and that you possess the legal right and ability to enter into this Terms of Use, register on Henry Ford MyChart under your own name and to use Henry Ford MyChart in accordance with this Terms of Use and abide by the obligations hereunder. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, and for all activities that occur under your password. You agree to prohibit anyone else from using your password and immediately notify Henry Ford Health of any unauthorized use of your password or other security concerns of which you become aware. Your account and all proxy permissions will be automatically deactivated upon notification of your death.
NOTE: Passwords are given and/or reset by request of the patient only.
Minors age 0-13 - Parents or legal guardians of minor children may request access to the child's Henry Ford Health Record through Henry Ford MyChart by following the terms outlined in the "Proxy Access" section below in this Terms and Conditions.
Proxy Access.
Proxy Access in Henry Ford MyChart allows a person to access another person’s Henry Ford Health Record (medical and billing information). Parents or Legal Guardians will use proxy access to access their children’s record so they can schedule appointments, check immunizations, reorder medications, and coordinate other health-related information for their child. Adults may also use it to access an incapacitated adult that is under their Legal Guardianship. This is useful for helping monitor medications and appointments. Proxy requests may be made in-person to a Henry Ford Health Clinical Employee or online through their MyChart account under menu option “Request Proxy Access” or menu option "Personalize" with hyperlink on page to ‘Request Proxy Access’ form. Proxy access will be automatically deactivated when the patient’s status is changed to ‘deceased’.
Minor Patient ages 0-13:
Proxies of minor patient between the ages of 0 and 13 (inclusive) are eligible to participate in the full spectrum of Henry Ford MyChart services on behalf of the minor patient. Proxy Access will only be granted to parties with parental rights or legal guardianship over the minor patient and only to the extent that the party requesting proxy access can demonstrate the legal right to account holder's medical information.
Minor Patient ages 14-17:
Proxies of minor patient between the ages of 14 and 17 (inclusive) will not be eligible to participate in the full spectrum of Henry Ford MyChart services on behalf of the minor patient. In compliance with State of Michigan Minor Consent Laws, for children between the ages 14 and 17, there are certain types of medical information that the parent or guardian of a minor patient age 14 or older may not view without consent of the minor patient. Because of these requirements, we cannot offer the full spectrum of services to parents of minor patients in this age category. Thus, when a minor patient reaches age 14, restrictions will be placed on Henry Ford MyChart access until he/she reaches age 18.
Adult Patient:
Individuals (“Patient Subject”) age 18 or older may authorize proxy access of their Henry Ford Health Record to another individual (“Proxy Delegate”). A Patient Subject may make the request in-person to a Henry Ford Health Clinical Employee or online through their MyChart account. The Patient Subject must provide the Proxy Delegate’s Full Name, Medical Record Number, Date of Birth, Home Address, Phone Number and Email Address. A Henry Ford MyChart account will be activated for both the proxy and the account holder. At any time, if the Proxy Delegate’s relationship with the account holder changes, the Patient Subject may revoke the Proxy Delegate’s permission to their Henry Ford Health Record from within Henry Ford MyChart. Henry Ford Health reserves the right to revoke proxy access at any time for any reason.
Patients may invite someone to have proxy access to their record on their own. After logging into your MyChart account, search for menu option “Share My Record”, and then select option ‘Share with People’ – “Friends and Family Access”. Next click on “Invite Someone” and follow the online prompts to grant someone, who is also a Henry Ford patient over 18 years old, proxy access to your medical information available within MyChart. You may also search for menu option “Allow Proxy Access”.
Diminished Capacity/Incapacitated Patient:
Proxies of diminished capacity/incapacitated patient are eligible to participate in the full spectrum of Henry Ford MyChart services on behalf of the diminished capacity/incapacitated patient. Court Ordered Legal Guardian, or a person with active Medical Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) with regard to a Diminished Capacity/Incapacitated Adult Patient, must present a copy of legal paperwork verifying their authority to have access to the patient's medical information. After providing the appropriate paperwork, the legal guardian may request to a HFHS clinical staff resource that they be granted permission to full functionality (view and act on behalf of the patient) within their chart.
Read-Only Permission
Patients abusing their use of MyChart and/or have been Administratively Discharged from Henry Ford Health will still be able to have a MyChart account however it will be limited to read-only. Patients will not have permission to write or receive MyChart messages, self-schedule appointments, participate in E-Visits or Video Visits, or request medication renewal. Patients may view only their medical data.
E-mail Privacy - Patients who are users of Henry Ford MyChart should be aware that they will be notified via e-mail when there is new information to be viewed on Henry Ford MyChart. This means that any person with access to a patient’s e-mail will be able to see this notification. This could include the patient’s spouse, employer or anyone else that can access a patient’s e-mail account. Although no private medical information will be sent, the notification that new information is available by accessing Henry Ford MyChart may be information that a patient would not want others to know. Thus, patients should take this into account when providing an e-mail address.
Please know that if you send us or your physician an e-mail communication, it may be shared with the Henry Ford Health staff that assists the physician in providing the patient’s medical care. A patient’s confidential medical information on Henry Ford MyChart will be accessible only to appropriate clinical staff.
Your e-mail address will be used for MyChart alerts and to share information about our products and services. We will not share your e-mail address with anyone.
If you would like to opt-out of marketing communications, please visit https://www.henryford.com/about/forms-library/other-request. Please note: As your healthcare provider, we will continue to send critical communications about billing, facility and provider changes, appointments, treatments and tests, even though you have unsubscribed from Henry Ford Health marketing communications.
Text Messaging - Henry Ford Health utilizes text messaging for some appointment reminders, MyChart account activations, and as a potential future means of communication to patients.
Depending on your cellular service plan, charges may apply. Refer to ‘Communication Preferences’ within your MyChart account for more information or opt-out.
Security and Confidentiality - We afford the same degree of confidentiality to medical and billing information stored on Henry Ford MyChart as is given to medical and billing information stored by Henry Ford Health in any other medium. Henry Ford Health is committed to protecting the confidentiality of your medical and billing information. We limit Henry Ford Health employees’ access and ability to enter or view information based upon their role in your care. Firewalls, passwords, encryption, and audit trails are further used to safeguard your information. We shall identify the records released and note the time and date of access each time a patient accesses’ Henry Ford MyChart. We have taken steps to make all information received from our online visitors as secure as possible against unauthorized access and use.
For other than general information viewing, Henry Ford MyChart must be accessed with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) compatible browser or terminal (use most up-to-date web browser version of Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome, Opera or Safari). MyChart uses SHA-256 with RSA 2048 bits key. SHA-256 is a patented cryptographic hash function that outputs a value that is 256 bits long. SHA-256 generates an almost-unique 256-bit (32-byte) signature for a text. It is used in the creation of bitcoin addresses to improve security and privacy.
You can tell when you are secure by looking at the location (URL) field. If the URL begins with https:// (instead of http://), the document comes from a secure server. This means your data cannot be read or deciphered by unauthorized individuals. You can tell whether you are truly connected to Henry Ford Health by viewing the digital certificate. This certificate verifies the connection between the Henry Ford Health server's public key and the server's identification.
User names and passwords provide two layers of authentication and are stored in an encrypted database that is isolated from the Internet. As a Henry Ford MyChart user, your role in maintaining the security of your medical information is: 1) Changing your password on a regular basis, and 2) Keeping your login ID and password confidential.
4. Patient Payments.
Credit Card data is not stored within Henry Ford Health applications. Henry Ford utilizes trusted third-party vendors, TrustCommerce and Elavon, to process and store credit card information. Using a secure, trusted vendor, Henry Ford reduces the risk of data security breaches by providing data privacy using one source.
5. Legal Notices and Disclaimers.
General Disclaimers. You acknowledge that your use of Henry Ford MyChart is at your sole risk, and that you assume full responsibility for all risk associated therewith.
6. Privacy.
Henry Ford Health respects your privacy and takes privacy very seriously. By accepting this Terms of Use, you consent to the use and disclosure of personally identifiable information provided to us as outlined in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.
7. Links to and Use of Third Party Sites/Services.
Henry Ford MyChart contains links to websites operated by other parties. The links are provided for your convenience only. We do not control such websites and we are not responsible for the content and performance of these sites. The inclusion of links to other websites does not imply any endorsem*nt of the material on the websites or any association with their operators. We do not operate, control, or endorse any information, products, or services provided by third parties through the Internet. Use of other sites is strictly at your own risk including, but not limited to, any risks associated with destructive viruses. You are responsible for viewing and abiding by the terms and conditions of use and the privacy statements of the other websites.
You may choose to use other services provided by third parties in conjunction with your use of MyChart. Such services may include, but are not limited to, translation services, location services, and other third-party offerings. Any links to such services are provided for your convenience only. Neither Epic nor Henry Ford Health have control over the contents of these services, and neither Epic nor Henry Ford Health accept any responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. Such services may require you to submit your information to a third party, which may result in a copy of your information being used and/or stored by a third party. If you decide to access any such services in conjunction with your use of MyChart, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such services.
Henry Ford MyChart utilizes a third party verification system, Experian. Experian is a Henry Ford Health Business Associate that receives information from Henry Ford Health to verify an individual’s identity during self-service creation of a Henry Ford MyChart account.
8. Connection to Apple Healthkit, Other Devices and 3rd Party Applications.
With your permission, certain versions of MyChart can connect to Apple HealthKit and other connected devices to receive health information and to share that information with your healthcare providers. Henry Ford does not share your health information with HealthKit or with other supported software. You give your permission when you link your Apple HealthKit and other connected devices to MyChart.
Henry Ford provides the ability for you to use certain 3rd party applications if you, as a patient, would like to use a 3rd party application to access and import your health information from MyChart. To do this, you must establish a Henry Ford MyChart patient portal account since the security – user name and password – you set for Henry Ford MyChart would be your authentication for a MyChart compatible 3rd party application to access and import your health information. While Henry Ford does not endorse any particular 3rd party applications, you can find a list of available 3rd party applications here: https://apporchard.epic.com/ or you can search in the Apple or Android App Store. Henry Ford reserves the right to disable any 3rd party application if needed.
Go to menu option "Share My Record" to view and link or unlink any connected devices or applications at any time.
9. General Legal Provisions.
Operation and Record Retention. Henry Ford Health reserves complete and sole discretion with respect to the operation of Henry Ford MyChart. Henry Ford Health may, among other things withdraw, suspend or discontinue any functionality or feature of Henry Ford MyChart. Henry Ford Health is not responsible for transmission errors or corruption or compromise of data carried over local or interchange telecommunication carriers. Henry Ford Health is not responsible for maintaining data arising from use of Henry Ford MyChart. Henry Ford Health reserves the right to maintain, delete or destroy all communications and materials posted or uploaded to the Henry Ford MyChart pursuant to its internal record retention and/or destruction policies. A copy of Henry Ford Health's record retention and destruction policies are available upon written request.
Limitations on Use. You agree not to access or use Henry Ford MyChart in an unlawful way or for any unlawful purpose. You shall send e-mails to other parties solely for personal communication and no other purposes, including commercial purposes, or for mass distributions of unsolicited e-mails. You agree not to post or transmit: (a) a message under a false name; or (b) any information which (i) is libelous, defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, false or contrary to the ownership or intellectual property rights of any other person, or (ii) contains any virus, worm, Trojan horse or other code which is contaminating or destructive to the files or programs of Henry Ford Health or any of its users. Henry Ford Health reserves the right to delete any information provided by you that it deems in its sole discretion fraudulent, abusive, defamatory, obscene or in violation of a copyright, trademark or other intellectual property or ownership right of any other person.
Term and Termination. This Terms of Use shall commence upon the date you first access or use Henry Ford MyChart and/or complete the registration process. Either you or Henry Ford Health may terminate this Terms of Use and your right to use Henry Ford MyChart at any time, with or without cause, and without ramifications to your future health care. This Terms of Use and the licenses granted hereunder shall terminate without notice in the event you (or any authorized person using your account) fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this Terms of Use, or the rules for use of Henry Ford MyChart promulgated by Henry Ford Health from time to time. Upon any termination, you will destroy all copies of Henry Ford Health materials in your possession and cease any access to or use of Henry Ford MyChart. Your account and all proxy permissions will be automatically deactivated upon notification of your death.
