Key points
- A doctor who sees your whole record starts the appointment where your last one ended, on your question.
- In a 2024 survey of 7,278 US adults, 59% had more than one online medical record or portal, and only 7% used an app to combine them.1
- In the US a provider must act within 30 days on a written, signed request to send your record to a person you name.2
- UK guidance from the ICO says withdrawing consent should ideally be a one-step process.3
- In a wai Profile every permission is explicit and revocable, and you can export or remove your record at any time.4
Summary
Give one named clinician or clinic access to the parts of your record that matter for the visit, through a secure link or permission. Decide what is relevant before you share, keep a note of who has access, and withdraw it when the episode of care ends.
Your next appointment starts with a clinician who already has last spring's results and the specialist's letter, and moves straight to the decision that matters. You choose what they see, and you take access back when the care is done.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSet up a wai Profile and see your whole record on one timeline, with every sharing permission listed and revocable.
| Visit | Worth sharing | Usually not needed |
|---|---|---|
| Registering with a new GP or family doctor | Medication list, allergies, past diagnoses, recent results, vaccination record | Raw wearable data |
| Specialist referral | Referral letter, results and imaging linked to the question, current medications | Unrelated past episodes |
| Physiotherapy or sports medicine | Imaging reports, surgical letters, activity and heart rate trends | Sexual or mental health history |
| Second opinion | The first clinician's letter, all results behind it, the treatment plan | Records from years before the problem began |
| Pharmacy or medication review | Full prescription list, allergies, kidney and liver results | Imaging and letters unrelated to medicines |
What sharing your record gives you
In the 2024 Health Information National Trends Survey of 7,278 US adults, 59% had more than one online medical record or patient portal, and only 7% used an app that combined them.1
With the whole picture shared, your clinician spends the first minutes on your question, and a new medication is checked against everything already prescribed. A personal health record travels with you between clinics, as set out in our guide to personal health records and patient portals.
Choosing what to share
Start from the reason for the visit. A new GP benefits from the full medication list, allergies, major diagnoses and recent results. A physiotherapist needs the imaging report and the referral letter.
Sensitive parts of the record are yours to decide on, and sexual health and mental health records can stay out of a share that does not need them. If something you hold back could change the clinician's decision, tell them it exists.
Wearable data helps when it bears on the question. Months of sleep and resting heart rate support a conversation about fatigue, so share the summary first and the detail if the clinician asks.
Three safe ways to share
Direct transfer from the clinic that holds the record. In the US a provider must send a copy straight to another person when the request is in writing, signed, and names the person and where to send it.2 The provider has 30 days to act, with one extension of up to 30 more.2
A permission from a personal health record. The clinician gets access to named parts of your record through a secure account, you see that access listed, and you can undo it in a moment.
An exported copy, a PDF or file you hand over at the appointment. It works anywhere and stays with the clinic once given, so keep it to what the visit needs. Use a clinic's secure upload or portal for files in preference to email.
Taking access back
UK GDPR guidance from the ICO says people must be able to withdraw consent at any time, as easily as they gave it, ideally in one step using the same method.3 The ICO also describes privacy dashboards as good practice for managing consent settings.3
Revoking access stops future viewing. What a clinician has already written into their own notes stays, because a clinic keeps its own record of the care it gave.
Review who can see your record when a course of treatment finishes, and once a year. The rules behind this are in our guide to privacy, permissions and correcting your record.
Sharing from a wai Profile
A wai Profile holds results, letters, prescriptions and wearable readings on one timeline that belongs to you.4 Every sharing permission is explicit and revocable, and you can export or remove the record entirely at any time.4 The data is not sold and is not used to train external models.4
Each visit to a wai clinic is added to your Profile, so the record grows with every appointment. Profiles are open to everyone now, and you can set up yours here.
Where to start
Before the next appointment, gather what you have from each portal into a personal health record or a single folder you control. Write down the reason for the visit and pick the few items the clinician needs for it.
Share through a permission or a direct transfer, and note the date. After the episode of care, revoke anything that no longer needs to be open. Then every clinician you see starts from your whole story.
Bring your results and letters into one Profile, then give your care team access to exactly what they need and take it back when you are done.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to email my health records to a new doctor?
It works, though an attachment can be forwarded and cannot be withdrawn. A clinic's secure upload, a direct transfer from your current provider, or a permission from a personal health record keeps you in control.
Can I ask my old clinic to send my record straight to a new one?
Yes. In the US a provider must send a copy to a person you name when the request is in writing, signed and says where to send it, within 30 days.2 Other countries have similar rights, and the clinic can tell you its process.
Do I have to share my whole record?
Share what the visit needs. If you hold back something that could change a clinical decision, tell the clinician it exists so they can ask about it.
What happens when I revoke access?
The clinician can no longer view your record from that point. Anything they have already written into their own notes stays in the clinic's record of your care.
How do I share my record using a wai Profile?
Choose a named clinician or clinic in your Profile and grant access to the parts they need. You can revoke that permission when the care ends, and export or remove your record whenever you like.4
Should I share my wearable data?
Share it when it bears on the question, such as sleep or heart rate trends for a conversation about fatigue. Start with a summary, and offer the detail if the clinician wants it.
Sources
- 1Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, US Department of Health and Human Services, 2025Individuals' Access and Use of Patient Portals and Smartphone Health Apps, 2024 (ASTP Data Brief No. 77)Read 14 October 2026Read source
- 2Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 202645 CFR 164.524, Access of individuals to protected health informationRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 3Information Commissioner's OfficeHow should we obtain, record and manage consentRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 4wai, 2026wai Profiles, a personal health record for every patientRead 14 October 2026Read source
Every clinician you see starts from your whole story.
Set up your wai Profile, open now, bring your results and letters together, and decide who sees what.
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