Marines donate blood in February 2024 at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va., as part of an armed services blood drive. (Max Lonzanida/U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON — Military health care beneficiaries are being urged to download their digital health records from the Tricare online patient portal before April 1 to retain copies.

The Defense Department is decommissioning the Tricare patient portal as part of its transition to the new MHS Genesis records system. Patient records on the older, Tricare system will not transfer to MHS Genesis.

Health records must be downloaded by individual patients. Failure to do so could result in gaps in medical history, Tricare said.

“All military hospitals and clinics have transitioned to MHS Genesis. We encourage you to take these important steps to save your personal health records before the [Tricare online] patient portal decommissions,” said Rear Adm. Tracy Farrill, an official for the Defense Health Agency.

To download the records, beneficiaries should log on to www.TRICAREOnline.com and click the blue “Health Record” button to view and download personal health data. Beneficiaries can also choose the person, data types, date range and format for the records that they need to download.

Medical providers will have patient records, but after April 1 patients will need to request physical copies by completing a form in person and then return at a later designated time to pick up the records.

“Your medical history is a valuable resource for managing your health and saving your records now ensures you have access if you need it,” Farrill said.

MHS Genesis came online in October 2023. It was developed as a “state-of-the-market electronic health record system” for the military health system under a $4.3 billion contract signed in 2015 with Leidos Partnership for Defense Health.

The change from the Tricare online portal to MHS Genesis is meant to streamline electronic health records management.