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You can use medical messaging instead of a phone call when you have a question. You can send a message to your clinic via MyChart 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Your message - and the answer from your clinic - are kept on file as part of your personal electronic medical record.

Medical message works well in these cases:

• You have a follow-up question from an office visit or e-Visit within the last seven days.
• You have a request for a referral, a form, or your record.
• Your provider has asked you to send him/her results of your home monitoring.
• You have questions about medication (not a refill request) or test results. This includes INR (international normalized ratio) test results related to taking anticoagulation medicine like warfarin (Coumadin®).
• You have other non-urgent question for your health care provider.

Many of the medical messages are answered by the clinic staff. Your provider will be consulted if necessary to answer your question.

You can expect a response to your message from your clinic within four hours, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

No. Medical messaging is a free service provided by Allina Hospitals & Clinics.

An e-Visit is an online exchange of medical information between a patient and their health care provider where the provider gives the patient medical advice.

An e-Visit can be used for non-urgent symptoms instead of calling your clinic or scheduling an appointment. You will be asked to complete an online form about your symptoms that will give your health care provider information he or she needs to treat you.

It is important to remember that e-Visits are not for emergencies or urgent conditions, or questions that need a quick answer.

Allina Hospitals & Clinics offers e-Visits for these symptoms:

• diarrhea ?
• heartburn ?
• red eye ?
• sinus problems ?
• urinary problems ?
• vaginal discharge or irritation ?

E-Visits can only address one of the symptoms in this list.

If your symptoms are not on the above list, you will need to schedule an appointment at your clinic.

An e-Visit is not available if you had an office visit or an e-Visit for the same diagnosis within seven days. In those cases, you will need to schedule an appointment with your clinic.

Your e-Visit will be sent to a qualified Allina advanced practice clinician, such as a nurse practitioner or physicians assistant.

We'll respond with a diagnosis and treatment plan within one hour, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Requests submitted after 9 p.m. will be handled in the order received, starting at 7 a.m.

Please call your clinic if your symptoms worsen.

If you may have a medical emergency, call 911.

E-Visits are available to adult MyChart users at Allina Hospitals & Clinics.

E-Visits can be requested by adult patients for their own health care. Adult patients who have access to the MyChart record for another adult may request an e-Visit for them.

At this time, an e-Visit is not available for patients who are 17 years of age and younger.

Allina Hospitals & Clinics takes precautions to ensure that your e-Visit is secure and to maintain the confidentiality of your information. E-Visits are submitted through MyChart and sent securely to the patient's provider and clinic.

Some information about the e-Visit will be recorded in MyChart. The full details for the e-Visit will be recorded in the patient's electronic medical record.

Allina charges $35 for an e-Visit and will submit the e-Visit as a claim to your insurance carrier.

You are responsible for any co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles associated with your health insurance policy.

If your insurance does not cover this service or you do not have health care insurance, you will be responsible for the entire fee for the e-Visit.

Please note that an e-Visit is not a covered service for Medicare or Medicaid, so if this is your only insurance you will be billed for the entire fee at the end of the e-Visit.

If you have any questions about e-Visit coverage please contact your health care insurance provider directly.

What if I need a prescription refill?

Why wouldn't a prescription renewal request be approved?