Sharing imaging with the patient
Send an X-ray (annotated or raw) to the patient's portal or via email.
Overview
Patients understand their care better when they can see their own images. Share an X-ray to the patient's portal (most secure) or via secure download link sent by email/SMS.
Prerequisites
- Any clinical or front-desk role
- The image (annotated or raw) is uploaded
- The patient has a portal account, or has email/SMS for the secure link
Steps
Open the image viewer. From the patient profile → Imaging.
Click "Share with patient". A modal opens.
Pick what to share. Original image only, original + annotations, or annotations only (no original — useful for educational diagrams).
Pick the channel. Patient portal (preferred — patient logs in with their credentials), Email link (24-hour expiring URL), SMS link (24-hour expiring URL).
Add a message. Free text. Becomes the email body or appears in the patient portal next to the image.
(For email/SMS) Set link expiry. Default 24 hours; can extend up to 7 days. After expiry the link returns 404.
Click "Send". Confirmation toast. The patient receives the link or sees the image in their portal Inbox.
Track receipt. The Communications tab on the patient profile shows the share record with delivery status. For email/SMS links, you also see when the link was first opened.
Expected outcome
- The patient receives the image via the chosen channel
- For portal sharing, the image appears in the patient's portal under My Documents
- For link sharing, the email/SMS contains a one-time-use URL
- An audit log entry records who shared what and to whom
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Email never arrives | Spam or sender domain not authenticated | Configure SPF/DKIM in Settings → Communications → Email |
| Patient says link is broken | Link expired, or they clicked it once already | Re-share with a fresh link |
| Patient doesn't have a portal account | Portal not enabled or never created | Use email/SMS link instead |
| Multi-MB DICOM won't email | Email size limits | Use portal sharing or a download link instead |
| Share blocked | Document marked as Sensitive | Untag Sensitive first if you intend to share |