Women who have a mammogram at Rush Imaging Center can access their results on their smartphone, laptop, or tablet within a day thanks to the new MyRush Patient Portal.

“The MyRush patient portal is a really good tool to help keep our patients informed about their health, and I promote it to all of our patients,” said Rhonda Blanks, manager of Rush Imaging Center.

“Anything you have done at Rush you will be able to see the results in the MyRush app whether it is lab work, reports from your mammography or if you end up having a biopsy,” she said. “Everything you have done gets posted to your account as soon as a report is issued.”

The MyRush Patient Portal, which launched in the spring, is an online website that gives patients easy and convenient 24-hour access from anywhere to their personal health information through a secure Internet connection. Besides viewing their mammogram results, patients can schedule appointments, request prescription refills, access lab results, pay bills, and exchange secure messages with their healthcare provider.

“Everything is so digital these days and healthcare is no exception,” said Ashlyn Palmer, director of marketing and communications at Rush Health Systems. “The MyRush app came about because we were listening to our patients.

“Our patients were asking for a tool that would let them view their test results, communicate with their provider, pay their bills, and request refills without having to call or come into the office,” she noted.

Online patient portals, which are becoming increasingly popular in healthcare, are an easy and convenient way for patients to stay up to date on their health, as well as stay in contact with their doctor or provider in between visits, Blanks said.

At Rush Imaging Center, the MyRush portal has been well-received by both older and younger patients, especially those who are comfortable using their smartphones and laptops.

“Within 24 hours, our doctors read their reports and the results are uploaded immediately to MyRush,” said Ashley Gibson, mammography Quality Control coordinator.

In some cases, the results are posted much sooner in as little as 30 minutes to a couple of hours but generally, 24 hours are allowed, she added.

To set up their online portal account, patients can download the MyChart mobile app on their smartphone or tablet through the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store for Android phones. On their computer, they can visit rushhealthsystems.org to sign up under MyRush in the menu.

The patient portal is a very secure tool for accessing personal health records, and patients are reminded to use a secure password and username when setting up their accounts. In addition, they are prompted to enter a security code when logging into the system.

Patients who may have questions when they review their medical records online can easily message their doctor or healthcare provider with questions, Blanks said.

“If you see something in your mammogram report and you question it, like if someone wanted to know what fibroadenoma is, then they can send a message and it will automatically get flagged and the provider will respond,” she said.

All patients to Rush Imaging Center still receive a letter in the mail with the results following their mammogram. Patients who may need follow-up imaging will receive a phone call so an appointment can be scheduled, Gibson said.

But for those patients who have access to online technology, the MyRush patient portal makes it easy for them to stay informed about their health, as well as the health of other family members because accounts can be linked.

“For moms who use MyRush to view their mammography results, they can also add their children and spouse so they can view their records, too,” Blanks said. “That way they can better manage the healthcare of their loved ones.”

Mammograms can be scheduled at Rush Imaging Center between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

Due to COVID-19, masks are required inside the imaging center. Seats in the waiting room are socially distanced, and one caregiver per family is allowed to accompany a patient.