Backpack Health is designed to carry all your health info in one place, including records from your doctor. With Data Connections, you can link Backpack to participating patient portals and import data automatically.
Add electronic health records to Backpack from multiple providers.
Get notified about new records when they become available.
Attach notes and files, update and share details, and build a more complete picture of your health.
Beta: Data Connections is new, and we’re still working to perfect it. Eventually we want to support health portals and wearable devices all over the world – but for now:
This feature is only available for users and providers in the U.S., in English.
Not all portals are supported. A portal might not be supported even if it’s included in search results. In some cases, it can take up to two business days to determine whether a portal is supported or not.
We’re not able to process every type of health record just yet, but we’ll be adding more. (Stay tuned!)
In the meantime, if you’re affected by the restrictions above or have other feedback about Data Connections, please get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you – email us at help@backpackhealth.com.
Set Up a Data Connection
Before you can set up a connection, you’ll need login credentials for your provider’s patient portal. Not all providers have a portal to access electronic health records, but if they do, you can usually find it on their website and create an account there.
Navigate to the person’s Backpack you want to set up a connection for – this could be your own, or one of your loved ones’. (Make sure this is the Backpack where you want health records to be added.)
Select Data Connections from the Main Menu.
Select Get connected.
Select Add a portal.
Choose to search by Office or hospital, Doctor name, or Portal website address (we think the easiest way to search is by Portal website address and entering just the domain, e.g. dukemychart.org.).
Search for and select your provider or portal from results. If you don’t see your provider right away, keep scrolling – they might be further down the list of search results.
Enter your portal username and password and select Connect portal.
It may take a minute or two to validate your credentials. After that you’ll see your portal listed with one of the following statuses:
Not supported – your portal is not currently supported. But new portals really are added all the time, so keep checking its status!
Pending portal – this means it’s going to take some time (up to two business days) to investigate whether your portal is supported.
Connected 🎉– hooray! Your portal is supported, and a connection has successfully been established. Some notes on what’s next:
It could take up to an hour for your available health records to appear in the app.
The records will be pending until you review them and confirm which ones you want to add to Backpack.
New records from your portal will be retrieved for your review automatically from now on. We check for new data every few days.
Review & Add Pending Health Records
When new records from a data connection are ready for your review:
You’ll get a notification in the app that you can view by selecting the Backpack button.
A reminder will be displayed above your or your loved one’s Health Info.
You’ll also receive an email from us (more on those below).
To review the pending records, select Review and add to Backpack in the notification or the reminder. Either one will take you to a list of available health records organized by health information category. All of them will be selected by default, but you can:
Select the circle next to a category (e.g. Conditions & Symptoms) to unselect/select all items within that category.
Select the circle next to individual items within a category to unselect/select only that item.
Then you can choose to add the items that are currently selected, or to delete them. Anything you don’t add or delete will stay pending, and you can come back to add or delete them anytime – just select DONE on the top right if you’re not sure yet.
Manage Data Connection Settings
You can pick the kinds of health information you want to come in from the portals you connect to, and whether to get notified via email when new records are available.
Select Data Connections from the Main Menu.
If you haven’t already, select the Get connected button to activate your ability to add and manage connections.
Select the Settings button – you’ll see a list of the types of health records that you can choose to include or not include. All of them will be selected by default.
To adjust health record settings:
Deselect the types of records you don’t want to receive from connected portals, and make sure the ones you do want to receive are selected. Select DONE on the top right to save.
To adjust email settings:
Scroll down to the email toggle at the bottom and use the toggle to turn email notifications on/off. Select DONE on the top right to save.
Remove a Data Connection
If you no longer want to be connected to a portal, you can disconnect it at any time. Any health records you’ve already accepted from it or we’ve already fetched will remain in Backpack, but you won’t receive new records after disconnecting.
Navigate to the Backpack you want to remove a connection from – this may be your own, or one of your loved ones’.
Select Data Connections from the Main Menu.
Select the connected portal you want to remove.
Select Delete this connection.
Confirm to Delete connection.
Important Information
Backpack Health uses technology provided by a third party, Greenlight Health Data Solutions, Inc., to connect to your patient portals and retrieve your health records. They take privacy seriously and abide by their Privacy Policy.
If a Backpack is shared, other users with access will see the same pending records you do, even if you have not accepted them yet. If you only want to give someone partial or temporary access to information in a Backpack, consider sharing a Share Card with them.
Give us Feedback
We’re just getting started, and we want to know how to make Data Connections work best for you. Let us know what you think – email us at help@backpackhealth.com.