The guides tell you how to do something. This is where we argue about why it’s this hard in the first place — what fragmented records actually cost patients, firms and the people treating them, and what the evidence says rather than what the headlines say.
Free through the portal. Capped at cost if you ask. About $60 if someone asks on your behalf. The difference isn’t the work — it’s a 2020 federal court ruling.
For patients & familiesThe Defense Department says plainly that if you moved between duty stations using different record systems, your records may have gaps. Then the old portal closed in April 2025.
For patients & familiesEighteen rural hospitals closed in 2025. Three Los Angeles clinics burned down in January. Katrina destroyed 400,000 paper charts. Electronic records solved destruction — they didn’t solve access.
For patients & familiesA quarter of a million people pay $499 a year for a hundred new biomarkers. Fifty-nine percent of Americans have more than one patient portal, and seven percent have ever combined them.
For patients & familiesA mother typed her son’s MRI notes into ChatGPT and it suggested tethered cord syndrome. The model’s advantage wasn’t intelligence — it was that it was the first reader in three years handed the whole file.
Gather records from every facility you’ve been seen at, keep your real MRI, CT and X-ray images viewable on your phone, and share securely with any doctor you choose.
Get started free Read the guides