Terms explained
Fourteen terms that appear in portals and letters, in plain words.
- Telehealth
- Any clinical contact delivered remotely, by video, phone or message.
- Patient portal
- A provider's website showing your own records and messages.
- Proxy access
- Permission for a named person to use the portal on your behalf.
- Reference range
- The range in which most healthy people fall; not a definition of normal for you.
- Release
- The moment a result becomes visible to you in the portal.
- Secure message
- A message sent inside the portal rather than by ordinary email.
- Repeat prescription
- A medicine authorised for ongoing supply without a new appointment.
- Nominated pharmacy
- The pharmacy your prescriptions are routed to by default.
- Two-step verification
- A code sent to your phone in addition to your password.
- Activation code
- A one-time code used to register for a portal; it expires.
- Access log
- A record of who has viewed your file; often requestable.
- Shared record
- A regional record combining information from several providers.
- Consultation summary
- The written note of an appointment, usually posted to the portal.
- Incidental finding
- Something noticed on a scan that was not what was being looked for.