Skip to main content
Back to Tracing Care
Tracing Care

Practice portal · Made-up information

Practice using a patient portal

A patient portal is a website where you can see test results, message your doctor, and manage appointments. Here you can try one at your own pace, pretending to be a patient named Robin Merriweather.

Your progress

10 short lessons. Start with any one.

Start your first lesson: Your visits

Saved on this device only. No account or sign-in needed.

Short lessons

There's no timer and no rush. Plan on about 5 to 20 minutes for each lesson, and longer the first time. That's completely fine. Do them in any order, stop whenever you like, and come back later. A helper box tells you what to do, and Show me where points to the right spot if you get stuck.

  1. Your visits

    Find your next visit, confirm it, and schedule a new one.

    About 15 to 20 minutes

    Start lesson: Your visits

  2. Video visits

    Check in before a video visit, get your camera and microphone ready, and join from home.

    About 10 to 15 minutes

    Start lesson: Video visits

  3. Test results

    Find a test result and see what it means.

    About 5 to 10 minutes

    Start lesson: Test results

  4. Messages

    Send a question to your care team.

    About 5 to 10 minutes

    Start lesson: Messages

  5. Medicines and refills

    Ask for a refill of one of your medicines.

    About 5 to 10 minutes

    Start lesson: Medicines and refills

  6. Your pharmacy

    Check which pharmacy gets your prescriptions, then change it to one closer to home.

    About 5 to 10 minutes

    Start lesson: Your pharmacy

  7. Reading a bill

    See what a visit cost, what insurance paid, and what is left for you to pay.

    About 10 to 15 minutes

    Start lesson: Reading a bill

  8. Paying a bill

    Check what you owe, then pay a bill.

    About 5 to 10 minutes

    Start lesson: Paying a bill

  9. Family helpers

    Give a family member access to help you.

    About 10 to 15 minutes

    Start lesson: Family helpers

  10. Spotting scams

    Spot fake emails, text messages, and phone calls, and learn what to do instead. Scammers often pretend to be a clinic, Medicare, or a bank.

    About 15 to 20 minutes

    Start lesson: Spotting scams
Real stories: health scams and hacksHow fake MyChart emails, data hacks, and stolen health information affect real people, plus simple habits that keep you safe.
Read the stories →

Other ways to practice

All lessons at once Guided Practice from start to finish: all 10 lessons in a row. Plan on about two hours, or longer, and take a break whenever you need one. You'll be asked how comfortable you feel at the start and the end. Start Guided Practice → Explore Mode Look around Robin's portal on your own, just like a real one. No instructions. Good once you feel ready. Start exploring →

Want to practice anytime?

Add Tracing Care to your home screen. It opens like an app, and practice works even without internet after your first visit.

Take your time and go one step at a time. It's fine to ask a family member or someone you trust to do this with you.

On an iPhone or iPad

  1. Find the Safari app on your iPhone or iPad. Its icon is a blue compass. Tap it to open it.
  2. Tap the address bar. On most iPhones it's at the bottom of the screen. On an iPad, it's at the top. Type tracing-care.com/healthportal and tap Go.
  3. Find the Share button. It's a square with an arrow pointing up, usually at the bottom of the screen. If you don't see it, tap the three dots ••• first, then tap Share.
  4. A list slides up. Slowly scroll down with your finger until you see Add to Home Screen. Tap it.
  5. Tap Add in the top right corner.
  6. Go back to your home screen and look for the Tracing Care icon. Tap it anytime you want to practice.

On an Android phone or tablet

  1. Find the Chrome app on your phone or tablet. Its icon is a red, yellow, and green circle with a blue dot in the middle. Tap it to open it.
  2. Tap the address bar at the top of the screen. Type tracing-care.com/healthportal and tap Go or the Enter key on your keyboard.
  3. Tap the three dots ⋮ in the top right corner.
  4. A menu opens. Look for Add to Home screen or Install app. You may need to scroll down. Tap it.
  5. Tap Install or Add to confirm.
  6. Go back to your home screen and look for the Tracing Care icon. Tap it anytime you want to practice.

On a computer

  1. Open Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, the program you use to visit websites. (Don't have either one? You can still practice in any browser. Just bookmark this page.)
  2. Click the address bar at the top of the window. Type tracing-care.com/healthportal and press the Enter key.
  3. At the right end of the address bar, look for the install icon. It looks like a small screen with a down arrow. Click it. Don't see it? Click the three dots in the top right corner and look for Install.
  4. Click Install.
  5. Tracing Care opens in its own window. Next time, find it with your other programs or on your desktop.
Steps for other devices

Not sure which phone you have? An iPhone has an Apple logo on the back. Most other phones are Android.

Adding Tracing Care doesn't share any personal information. Everything inside is still made up.

This is a safe place to practice

  • Nothing here is real. You are pretending to be a patient named Robin Merriweather.
  • You can't break anything. Click around as much as you like.
  • Please don't type your real name, passwords, or health information.

Why patient portals matter

More and more of health care happens online. Your clinic may post results, send reminders, and answer questions through its portal. Knowing what a portal does, how to use it, and how to stay safe helps you stay in charge of your care.

1What a portal does

A patient portal is a secure website or app from your doctor, clinic, or hospital. In most portals you can:

  • See your upcoming appointments
  • Read lab and test results
  • Review your medications, request refills, and keep your list up to date
  • Message your care team with non-urgent questions
  • See and pay bills
  • Add family members or caregivers who help you
  • See who can view your information and how it is shared

2How to use it

Every clinic picks its own portal, so the screens, colors, and names can look different from what you see here. The idea is the same everywhere: find the menu, choose a section, and look for the button that does what you need. That is the skill you practice here, and it works in any portal.

Many clinics use portals such as MyChart. The menu names here, like Visits, Test Results, Messages, and Billing, are similar, so what you learn carries over. Tracing Care is a separate practice tool and is not connected to MyChart or Epic.

3How to stay safe

  • Get the portal link or app from your clinic, not from a text or email you didn't expect.
  • Keep your password private. Your clinic will never ask for it by phone or text.
  • Sign out when you finish, especially on a shared or library computer.
  • Only pay bills you recognize, and open the portal yourself instead of clicking links.
  • Portals are not for emergencies. If it's urgent, call your doctor or 911.

Good to know: some things work differently from clinic to clinic. For example, some offices confirm appointments by phone, some send a text asking you to reply YES or NO, and some use the portal. Whatever the method, the idea is the same.

To improve the lessons, Tracing Care counts anonymous progress, like which tasks were finished and how many hints were used. No names, messages, or personal details are saved.