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How to Export Your MyChart Records (and Keep Your Own Copy)

3 min read · Updated 2026-07-19

Your patient portal shows your chart, but the data lives on your hospital's system — if you switch providers, move, or a portal is retired, you can lose easy access to your own history. U.S. law (the 21st Century Cures Act) guarantees your right to get a copy of your electronic records, and MyChart — the patient portal used by hospitals and clinics that run Epic — gives you several ways to do it.

Menus vary a little between health systems (each hospital configures MyChart differently), but here are the main routes.

Option 1: Download visit summaries (quickest)

Good for: bringing a recent visit to another doctor.

  1. Log in to your MyChart account (web browser is easier than the app for downloads).
  2. Open Your Menu (top left) and look under My Record for Visits or Document Center.
  3. Open a past visit and choose Download / Print the After Visit Summary.

You'll get a PDF you can save, print, or email.

Option 2: Download your full record

Good for: keeping a complete personal copy.

  1. In Your Menu, look for Document Center → Requested Records or Download My Record (some systems label it Sharing Hub → "Download").
  2. Request the Lucy summary / Continuity of Care Document (CCD) — this is a standard file containing your medications, allergies, immunizations, problems, labs, and more.
  3. When it's ready, download the package. You'll typically get a human-readable version plus a machine-readable XML file.

Tip: the XML (CCD) file looks unfriendly, but keep it — it's the version other systems and apps can import.

Option 3: Share directly with another provider

Good for: one-off sharing without downloading anything.

  • Share Everywhere (in the Sharing Hub) generates a temporary code a clinician anywhere can use to view a summary of your record.
  • Happy Together / linked accounts: if you have MyChart accounts at multiple Epic health systems, you can link them so each portal shows a combined view.

Option 4: Request records from Health Information Management

Good for: imaging, full chart copies, or anything the portal doesn't expose.

Every hospital has a records department (often called HIM or Release of Information). You can request your complete chart — under the Cures Act rules, electronic copies of your own records must be provided, and patient-portal or electronic copies are typically free.

Option 5: Connect a personal health app (ongoing, automatic)

Good for: keeping your copy continuously up to date instead of exporting by hand.

Epic exposes a patient-access API (the same SMART on FHIR standard used across the industry). You authorize an app by signing in to your own MyChart account — the hospital then releases your records directly to that app. You can revoke access any time from MyChart's security settings.

This is how MediWall works: you connect your MyChart login once, and your medications, allergies, labs, vitals, and visits are imported straight to your phone — where they're stored in an encrypted database on the device. MediWall has no account system and no server copy of your records; the hospital releases them to your phone, and that's where they stay.

However you export — actually keep it

Whichever route you use, the point is having your own copy:

  • Store the files somewhere you control (your device, your personal cloud drive).
  • Re-export (or let a connected app re-sync) after hospital stays, new diagnoses, or medication changes.
  • Keep a current medication + allergy list somewhere reachable in an emergency — see our printable Emergency Medical Card template.

This guide is general information. MyChart is a product of Epic Systems Corporation; MediWall is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Epic. Portal menus and record-release policies vary by health system.