Introduction to Message Center

Your Message Center is a secure, easy way to communicate with your online providers. You can use secure messages to communicate with any provider in your online network at no cost, helping you keep your providers informed about health issues or other important information. To access the Message Center, click the Message Center tab at the top of your screen from any page in Online Care:

Your Message Center consists of three main areas, each of which is accessible as a tab within the Message Center:

• Inbox: Browse and read secure messages that other Online Care users have sent you. You will receive a notification when a new message arrives, and your unread messages will be shown on your personalized home page.
• Sent Messages: Review messages that you've sent via your Message Center.
• Contacts: View and add important contacts, such as health care providers, pharmacies, hospitals, and other points of care. Adding contacts will allow you to send them secure messages and share reports of care you receive online.

How to Use Your Contacts List

Your Contacts list stores providers, hospitals, and other points of care that you may want to share information about your Online Care activity with. Using the Message Center, you can send a secure message to providers listed in your Contacts list. Adding providers, hospitals, and other points of care allows you to share reports of care you receive online. For more information about sharing reports with your contacts, please see How to Save and Export Reports.

The pharmacies in your Contacts list are used during Online Care conversations. If you have not specified at least one pharmacy, you will not be able to receive prescriptions during your online conversations. You can also designate one of the listed pharmacies as your Primary Pharmacy, which is the default pharmacy selected when you begin your conversations.

Adding Contacts

To add a contact, click the + Add Contact button and select the type of contact you would like to add.

Once you're finished searching for or adding information for your contact, click Add to update your contacts list.

How to Send a Secure Message

From the Message Center, you can send secure messages to any provider in your contacts list. For more information on your contacts list, please see How to Use Your Contacts List, above. When you have an online conversation with a provider, the provider will be automatically added to your Contacts list. Once you're sure that the provider you would like to contact is in your Contacts list, you can send a message by clicking New from your Message Center in box:

Like email, you should fill in a message subject, and then enter your message to the provider. You can also attach documents or other files to your secure messages, allowing you to share relevant information with your online providers. Once your message is ready, click Send.