More Johns Hopkins Medicine patients than ever are activating their MyChart portals to see test results and to communicate with providers. “The feedback I’m getting from patients is that it makes them feel more empowered and connected to their health care,” says Steve Klapper, project leader for Epic, the electronic medical record system that powers MyChart.  

Among people treated at Johns Hopkins in the past year, more than 30 percent of outpatients and 20 percent of inpatient and Emergency Department users have signed on to MyChart, Klapper notes.

Several improvements are making MyChart more useful, he says. Some departments now enable scheduling directly through MyChart, and others are piloting OpenNotes, which lets patients see information written by their providers. A Spanish version of MyChart is expected by year’s end.