Stay Connected to Your Health Care with Weill Cornell Connect
If your doctor is affiliated with Weill Cornell Medicine, you may already be familiar with Weill Cornell Connect —the patient portal that allows you to:
- Message your doctor (non-emergency questions)
- Contact the practice offices (but not if you’re having a medical emergency)
- Seek answers to non-urgent questions
- Schedule an appointment
- Access your medical records, test results and patient information
- Pay your bill
- Request a prescription refill
Using this service, you can send messages and receive medical advice from the comfort of home.
“In the past, when patients had questions for us, they had to schedule an appointment or a phone conversation,” says Dr. Judy Tung, an associate attending physician and associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “You can choose to ask a medical question through Weill Cornell Connect. If your question turns out to be more complex in nature, scheduling an in-person appointment may be recommended.” For more immediate needs, there are Video Visits and Virtual Urgent Care appointments available through Weill Cornell Connect.
If you’ve been using Connect for a while, you’re probably familiar with most or all of its features. Read on for a brief “refresher.”
But if you’re new to the portal, and you haven’t signed up for it yet, you can do so by using an activation code sent to you after your first visit with a Weill Cornell Medicine physician.
Who is eligible to use Weill Cornell Connect?
Any patient 12 years of age or older. Parents can be given access to their children’s accounts, and older patients can grant access to their adult children, friends or caregivers.
Is Weill Cornell Connect secure?
Yes, all communication between you and your care team is carried over a secure, encrypted connection, says Dr. Tung. Your health records are stored behind a firewall to prevent unauthorized access.
Additional features
Beyond the bulleted list provided at the start of this post, here are a few additional ways that CONNECT can make your life easier:
- Instead of filling out forms at your doctor’s office, use the eCheck-in feature and complete them in advance through the app, either on your phone or on your computer screen.
- Gain access to your test results as soon as they become available.
- Schedule other appointments, such as for imaging or immunizations.
- Arrange and launch a video visit. Shortly before your video appointment, click on the Begin Visit button at the bottom of your screen to activate your camera.
- Request a refill prescription from your medication list.
An under-utilized feature
Letters that you need from your doctor to excuse you from work after surgery or other common reasons for a doctor’s note can be requested and then directly downloaded from the Weill Cornell Connect portal.
There is also tech support—available 24/7—in case you are having trouble accessing Weill Cornell Connect at any time.
What not to do on Weill Cornell Connect
When you send a message to your doctor after normal office hours or on the weekend, it won’t ping to their cell phone or beeper. “CONNECT messages are forwarded to your provider by the staff, who are not on the premises after hours,” she says. “If you need to reach help after hours, call your doctor’s office, and you’ll be able to leave a message for the doctor on call.”
As noted in the “Medical Question Disclaimer,” when you’re logged into Weill Cornell Connect, messages received through the portal are only answered during business hours on weekdays.
Replies may take up to two days. If you need an immediate answer, please call your practice. If this is a medical emergency, please call 911.
For your convenience, medical advice through Weill Cornell Connect messaging is available to established patients with providers you have seen before to answer questions related to your care. For more complicated issues, please schedule a video or office visit.
Final points to remember
- Medical advice is available to you from clinicians you’ve seen before.
- Through Weill Cornell Connect, your doctor can answer simple, straightforward questions about your care.
- For more complicated issues, schedule a video or office visit.
- Replies to your questions may take up to two business days; this does not include weekends or observed holidays. If you need an immediate answer, call your doctor’s office.
- If you’re experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
- To be seen by one of our providers sooner, there are Video Visits and Virtual Urgent Care appointments available through Weill Cornell Connect.
- Instead of emailing or calling your doctor’s office, use Weill Cornell Connect. Doing so will make your life, and your health care, easier and more convenient.