SHARING MEDICAL RECORDS

 

Making specific medical records available to other ZIMS using institutions. Medical records are commonly shared prior to transactions. They can also be shared for consultation purposes.

 

Contact Species360 Support

 

By default, no medical records are shared. Sharing of medical records is a 3 step process:

1. In Institution Preferences > ZIMS Accessibility and Features, Accessibility for External Sharing must be turned on by your Local Administrator.
2. Medical Records Sharing level must be selected. Only the Medical Admin Role has this accessibility unless a custom Role is created at your facility.
3. Shared records need to be selected from the My Institution grid or from within the record
4. Shared medical records are viewed inside of ZIMS Medical like a regular ‘local’ record but cannot be printed by an institution that did not create the record.

 

Start > Institution > Institution Preferences > ZIMS Accessibility & Features

 

What is shared at each level is:

• Gold = All medical records except those Clinical Notes marked as Private
• Silver = Anesthesia, Physiological Measurements, Medical issues/diagnosis, Treatments and Health Status
• Bronze = Anesthesia and Physiological Measurements
• No Sharing = no medical information shared

 

Sharing of medical records requires that BOTH institutions have it turned on. What is shared is the lowest common denominator of the two institutions. For example, Institution A has selected a Gold level of sharing. However, Institution B has selected a Bronze level of sharing. When Institution A shares a record with Institution B, Institution B will see only those topics shared at a Bronze level because that is only the information they wish to share with others.

 

You can choose to share from within the animal record. You first select the institution and then you select the type of sharing.

                          
Animal Record > External Sharing grid > Actions > Select Institution > Next > Select Sharing Type

 

You can also choose to share using the External Sharing grid in My Institution. Use the Actions button to share by Taxonomy or Individual animal.

 

Below you can see that this institution is sharing two medical records and six husbandry records. Once you share a record it is a good idea to notify the institution you are sharing with so they know they will now see a more complete record. Sharing will continue until removed from the animal record or sharing grid in My Institution.

My Institution > External Sharing grid > Actions > Add New External Sharing

 

The right side animal dashboard in the Medical Module will display if there is any sharing with the number of sharing institutions noted. In this record one institution is sharing with this institution.

Selecting the sharing icon opens a window to view the statistics. Because this institution has chosen to share at a lower level, not all medical records are shared.

 

To view a record that is shared with you, locate the animal using the Search Animals field or Lookup option or Animal Searches. Remember to select a Global search scope. The background of a shared record will be white. The record will continue to be shared until the sharing institution turns it off by removing the sharing from within the record or within My Institution External Sharing grid.

  

You can now click on the 'Medical Records' option in the animal’s record to view the medical data that has been recorded ONLY by the organization that has shared data with your organization (you'll not see medical data from other historically holding members unless they also grant you privileges to their data). 

 

The shared husbandry records (set separately from Medical) will follow global data sharing rules that are standard for all Species360 members unless the institution has additionally specified husbandry sharing with your organization in addition to Medical sharing. More details on  sharing data in ZIMS  found here.

Additionally, if you want to identify if an organization is currently using ZIMS medical, you can search for the member in the Institution search and open the Staff grid. Review the Roles column for someone with “Medical Admin” role. This guarantees that the organization has been granted ZIMS Medical rights. Of course, this only works if the person with that Role has been marked as a Public Contact.

 

To view records that others are sharing with you, go to Start > Institution > Data Management > My Data Sharing Map. Check Shared With My Institution.

Hovering over the dot will display the institution and the number of records shared. Clicking on any of the lines will bring up a results grid that displays the GAN and taxonomy, the date sharing started, and who shared the record with you.

This list can be exported and distributed to staff so they will know what records are being shared with them.

  

Revised 5 March 2025