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Allison’s answer is very comprehensive and covers the technical issues. I’ll take my usual perspective and try to ask and answer a few ‘why’ questions.The first question is why you have to make or take medical record requests to other providers. Normally, a patient can sign a release that allows your current provider to get medical records from other providers. My best recollection is that signing a release form with a provider (the form mentions HIPAA) will enable all your prior medical records to be shared with another provider, including older records that may exist in the form of paper or film. There may be some exceptions or additional waivers required for sensitive health data, e.g. behavioral health records.Most of the leading EMRs and healthcare systems have forms of secure messaging enabled between providers. Some use a third-party service to enable messaging or health information exchange to request and obtain medical records. While it would seem sensible to most of us that a provider could simply send an email to another provider requesting medical records, security and privacy rules generally rule out the use of regular email for medical records.The only reason I can recall for visiting a former healthcare provider and getting records was because time was of the essence and/or the records that were needed involved very large files (e.g. CT, MRI, fetal monitoring or sleep study) or very large pieces of film that were best provided on the original film or on solid media (CD-ROM or DVD.)The second question involves the context for making the medical record requests in person or by phone. Let’s use my use case as an extreme example. I was helping a family member get listed for a lung transplant. Time was of the essence in meeting all of the prior medical record requests due to the nature of the end-stage lung disease (pulmonary fibrosis) and the complex requirements for being listed for a lung transplant.I was also seeking records (and in one case, a biopsy sample) that were, in some cases, over 30 years old. A medical records request that involves transplant or other complex treatments may require the caregiver to make some calls and, in some cases, show up in person to get what is needed on a timely basis.So depending on the continuum of diagnosis and treatment complexity, a call or visit to required prior medical records may be warranted. But in the case of a routine primary care or chronic care, the current primary care provider or specialist should be able to obtain prior medical records if they have your written consent.The third ‘why?’ question involves an emergent use case where the patient has a complex or chronic condition (let’s use the lung transplant example again) and an emergency arises. The patient and caregiver need to have recent vital sign data, medication information and a summary medical history available all the time. My solution was a combination of Epic’s MyChart (a patient portal), medication history from a retail drug store and (don’t laugh) a 3 ring binder with recent vital sign information plus all the reports that are printed and handed to patients after in-person visits. I tried using the various PHRs but I did not find they added any real value when it came to communicating a summary medical history.I found that having a reasonably accurate summary medical history available was the most useful personal medical information to assemble and maintain if the use case involved communicating about a complex or chronic condition to a provider that was not a specialist for the complex or chronic condition. I would make the same observation for supporting medical care needed during business or personal travel. Most of the leading EMRs and pharmacies offer mobile applications that will provide a basic medical history on a smart phone. (Make sure someone knows how to unlock your phone.)Finally, I’m reasonably certain you can ‘own’ your medical records by making a request in writing to any provider that has your records. The output may be printed on paper (or copied to a form of solid media) and you may be charged for each page that is printed or each disk that is provided.