A patient's chart may be restricted because they asked that their medical records be kept confidential from some of your clinic members, and/or due to role-based access control being configured to allow users to access only patients in a certain location. Users who have the appropriate permission can still view the chart, but they must override the restriction and provide a reason. If the restriction is due to role-based access control, you can also request consent for a group and specify the length of time the override should be in effect.
A user may need access to a restricted patient's chart in case of emergency, or when one provider is covering for another at a different location when role-based access control is configured.
📌 Note:
To gain access to a patient chart you do not have access to due to role-based access control, you must have the Break glass on a Patient Chart permission. Overriding a role-based access restriction is referred to as "breaking the glass".
To gain access to a patient chart that has user-based access restrictions, you must have the Force access on a Patient Chart permission. Overriding a user-based access restriction is referred to as "forcing access".
The fact that a user accessed the restricted chart is saved in the patient's chart, with a red icon within the Recent Activity section, making it easy to see from the patient dashboard if someone forced access (refer to Reviewing recent activity).
If a user gains access to a restricted chart, the owner of the restriction receives an automated and detailed inbox message that includes information such as the user who forced access, the timing of the access, the reason for it, and a link to the restricted patient chart.
Users who do not have the appropriate permission cannot access a restricted chart, even in an emergency situation. In that case a message appears that you do not have permission to access the chart.
Steps
1. Search for and open a patient's chart.
2. If permission is denied due to user-based access:
a) In the Permission denied window that appears, type a Reason for forcing access to the patient chart.
b) Click Okay.
3. If permission is denied due to role-based access control:
a) Type a Reason for breaking the glass.
b) Specify which users should have access in the For User(s) field. Select Myself from the list, or you can select any group that you are a part of. For example, if a patient is being seen by a specialist and there is a group of users for the specialist's clinic, you could choose that group so anyone in the specialist clinic has access to that patient.
c) Select the Length of time the specified user or group of users should have access to the chart. Most often you should select 1 day. You may want to increase the length of time users have access to the patient in the case where a user is currently booking an appointment for the patient to see the provider, and the appointment isn't for another 2 weeks. Instead of breaking the glass now and again in 2 weeks, you could increase the length of time you have access. The maximum length of time you can select is 1 year.
d) Click Confirm.
4. Enter your password and click Submit.
5. The patient chart opens and an entry is added to the Recent Activity section of the chart.
If the chart is restricted due to role-based access control, you have access to the chart for the time period you specified when breaking the glass. The Permission denied message will not appear again during that time.
If the chart is restricted due to user-based access restrictions, you will have to force access to the patient chart again after you close it, switch to a different patient's chart, or log out.
Updated June 12, 2024