Summary
Let the patient invite a family member or carer from their own app, choose exactly what that person can see, and take access back in a tap. Show the clinic who is asking on whose behalf. Where someone acts for a patient who lacks capacity, record their legal authority first.
The person who organises a patient's care is often not the patient. In the US, 51% of caregivers used a care recipient's online record in 2024, up from 24% in 2020.1
Private clinics see this every week. A daughter abroad paying for a parent's care, a husband managing medicines, a carer who gives the doses. This article sets out how to let them help without the front desk guessing what it may say.
See it in your clinicSee a patient invite a daughter in another country, choose what she sees, and take it back.
Request a demo| Access | What the person sees | Can they change it |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | The signed plan and medicines | No, it is read only |
| Results | Results with the doctor's comment | No, it is read only |
| Appointments | Upcoming visits | No, it is read only |
The organiser is often someone else
A father is seen in London and his daughter lives in Dubai. The only account she has of what the doctor said is his, a week later. When she calls the clinic, the front desk cannot tell what she is allowed to know.
Both sides lose. The family cannot help, and the clinic either says too little or risks saying too much.
The patient decides, in their own app
Access should start with the patient. From their app, they invite a named person and choose what that person can see, the plan, the results, the appointments, or all three.
The view the invited person opens should be read-only, so the record cannot be changed by someone acting on the patient's behalf. Identity matters at both ends, as covered in patient identity verification.
Access ends in a tap
Relationships change, and access must change with them. The patient sees everyone who has access and takes it back in one tap, effective at once.
The clinic sees who is acting on whose behalf, and the record notes it. That turns a phone call the front desk dreads into one it can answer.
When someone acts for the patient
Where a patient lacks capacity, the law decides who acts. In England and Wales that is usually a lasting power of attorney for health and welfare. In the US, HIPAA's personal representative rules and state law on minors apply.2 In the UAE, guardianship and consent decide.
In each case the clinic records the authority before granting access. A guide to the rules is in caregiver access to health records, and the family and carer access feature shows how wai runs it.
Show us the calls your front desk takes from families and we will show you which of them would never have been needed.
Request a demoFrequently asked questions
Can family members see a patient's medical record?
With the patient's consent, or with legal authority where the patient lacks capacity. The patient should choose what is shared.
Can a patient take back access?
They should be able to at any time, in one tap, effective at once.
Can a carer change the patient's record?
No. A shared view should be read-only.
What about a parent and a teenage patient?
In the UK, a young person's own consent follows Gillick competence. In the US, state law on minors decides.
Does family access work across countries?
Yes. The family member can be anywhere, and the record stays where the clinic hosts it.
Sources
- Individuals' Access and Use of Patient Portals and Smartphone Health Apps, 2024 (ASTP Data Brief No. 77), read 18 October 2026
- 45 CFR 164.502, personal representatives, read 18 October 2026
Let the people who care for your patients help.
Thirty minutes to see access granted, used and taken back. We reply within one working day.
Partner with us
See it on your own patients, then build it with us
Thirty minutes on your own patients, doctors and rules, in your market. We reply within one working day, and the clinics that partner with us early shape what we build next.
Read how family and carer access works in a clinic