A Doctor’s Guide to the myHealth Malta Portal

By Dr. Anna Migocka, Specialist in Paediatrics

For many patients in Malta and Gozo, waiting for medical results can be a period of anxiety and uncertainty. Whether it is a routine blood test at a local Health Centre or a specialized scan at Mater Dei Hospital, waiting in the dark for a physical letter is stressful.

Fortunately, the "paper-based" era of Maltese healthcare has been replaced by a highly efficient, digital alternative: the myHealth portal.

As medical professionals, we highly encourage the use of this platform. It allows patients to take total ownership of their medical data and bridges the gap between public health services and private medical care. Here is a complete guide to understanding and navigating your digital medical folder.

What is the myHealth Portal?

The myHealth portal is a secure, government-run digital hub (accessible at myhealth.gov.mt) where Maltese residents can view their public health records using their e-ID. It is designed to support a seamless continuity of care. By ensuring the safe sharing of health data between public hospitals and private doctors, your public health records are securely available for review during private medical consultations. For patients, this means more accurate diagnoses, safer treatments, and the elimination of lost paperwork.

7 Key Features Every Patient Should Know:

Laboratory Results: View blood, urine, and pathology reports online.
Medical Imaging: Get direct access to radiology reports and the actual images (X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs).
Pharmacy Records: Monitor "Pharmacy of Your Choice" (POYC) entitlements and track prescription history.
Clinical Summaries: Instantly access hospital discharge letters, vaccination records, and ECGs.
Appointment Tracking: Keep a clear view of upcoming and past visits at government hospitals and Health Centres.
Manage Representatives: Appoint trusted family members as "Representatives" to view records on your behalf, with the ability to add or revoke permissions at any time.
Link Your Doctor: You can securely link a doctor of your choice to your myHealth profile. This gives them secure online access to your public health records and medical history. This ensures that, during consultations, healthcare professionals have a complete and accurate picture of your health, leading to safer and better-informed decisions about your care.

Your Interactive Health Tools

The myHealth portal has evolved beyond a simple viewing platform—it is now a proactive health management hub. One of the most valuable features we recommend to patients is the Personal Health Journal.

Through this journal, you can actively participate in your own care by logging personal health observations directly into the system. You can:

Track Daily Metrics: Enter data for specific health indicators (such as blood pressure, weight, or blood glucose) and track your progress and trends over the last 7, 30, or 90 days.
Review Case Summaries: Securely access detailed inpatient discharge letters and your past medical history directly from government hospitals.
Share with Your Doctor: Because these observations are saved to your profile, your linked doctor can review your self-reported data alongside your official lab results and medical images.

These interactive features mean that during your next consultation, you and your doctor can spend less time trying to remember past symptoms and more time making accurate, data-driven decisions about your healthcare journey.

Navigating Your Records: Why aren't results available immediately?

Once logged into the portal using an e-ID, a patient can browse their digital medical folder. However, a common frustration arises when a nurse or lab technician informs a patient that a test is "ready," yet the data is not visible on the screen.

To understand why this happens, it is helpful to look at how data moves through Malta's healthcare systems.

How Data Moves: From the Hospital to Your Screen

Public hospital data is generated by internal systems used across the entire national healthcare network. Doctors working within the public sector at all government hospitals (including Mater Dei and Gozo General Hospital) as well as local Health Centres have direct access to these internal clinical networks. This allows public healthcare professionals to see your results the moment they are finalised by the laboratory or imaging department.

However, for that medical data to securely reach your personal myHealth portal, a digital transfer must take place. According to official health ministry guidelines, laboratory results and medical image reports generally reach the myHealth system within 2 days of being released at the source.

Understanding the "Safety Buffer" Review Period

If a result reaches your portal but remains marked as unavailable for a few days, rest assured that this is not a technical glitch. The Maltese health system includes a built-in review period designed with your well-being in mind.

Standard medical practice dictates that certain test results can be complex, anxiety-inducing, or difficult to interpret without professional guidance. This built-in delay ensures that a medical professional has the necessary time to review your findings, provide proper medical context, and offer support before you view the results alone.

If a linked doctor does not manually release the results to you early, the myHealth system follows these strict automatic release timelines:

Lab Results (Blood and Urine): Automatically released to the patient after 3 days.
Imaging Reports (X-rays, CTs, and Scans): Automatically released to the patient after 7 days.
Histopathology (Biopsies): Automatically released to the patient after 14 days.

The "Fast Track" to Medical Results

For patients wishing to bypass this automatic waiting period, there is a highly secure and efficient alternative.

When you link your chosen doctor to your myHealth profile, that specific medical professional receives access to your results as soon as the data reaches the myHealth system.

Once your linked doctor reviews the findings and determines they are routine or ready for you to view, they can simply click a button to release them on their end. This action makes the results instantly visible on your portal, safely and securely bypassing the standard 3, 7, or 14-day wait.

What About Private Clinics and Labs?

It is important to know that the automatic test results on myHealth come from the public healthcare system. If you take a blood test or have a scan done at a private lab or clinic, those results will not automatically pop up on your screen.

However, the portal has a highly useful solution for this! You can use the Uploaded Documents feature to manually add your own files. By simply scanning or taking a photo of your private test results and uploading them to the system, you can keep all your medical documents safe in one complete digital folder for your linked doctor to review.

Managing Family and Children’s Data

As a parent or legal guardian, keeping track of your children's medical history is incredibly important. The myHealth portal makes it simple to manage the health data of your dependents securely using your own e-ID login.

To ensure strict data privacy and comply with Maltese law, the portal handles access differently depending on your child's age. Here is exactly how it works:

Under 14 Years Old: Parents and legal guardians can easily add younger children to their profile. Simply navigate to the "Representatives" tab and select "My Children" to view their medical records seamlessly.

Ages 14 to 15: In Malta, citizens receive their own electronic identity (e-ID) card and password at age 14. At this milestone, teenagers can log into the myHealth portal to view their own health records independently. However, the system does not allow them to manage or change their linked doctors at this age.

Age 16 and Over: Once a minor celebrates their 16th birthday, they gain the legal right and the technical ability to independently manage their own doctor-patient links within the myHealth system.

Age 18 (Legal Adulthood): When your child reaches legal adulthood at 18, the system strictly enforces their personal data privacy. Any previous parental access is automatically removed by the portal.

Why Keeping Your Medical Records Together Matters?

To give you the best possible treatment, medical professionals need to see the full picture of your health. A past illness, an allergy, or the exact list of medicines you take right now are all very important details.

The myHealth portal keeps all your health records safely in one place. By taking a few minutes to set up your account and link your chosen doctor, you make sure that the person treating you has all the right facts immediately.

Sharing your digital health data with your doctor gives you three major benefits:

Safer Care: Doctors can check your history to avoid harmful medicine mix-ups or allergic reactions.
Easier Visits: You do not have to worry about carrying heavy folders or repeating your entire medical history at every appointment.
Fewer Tests: Doctors can see your past results, saving you the stress, time, and money of repeating the same blood tests or X-rays unnecessarily.

Need Help with the myHealth Portal?

Setting up your digital health profile for the first time might feel a little tricky, especially if you are using your e-ID. However, getting connected is highly worth it. If you need a helping hand along the way, official support is freely available:

Where to Log In: You can securely access your health records at any time by visiting the official government website at myhealth.gov.mt.
Easy Guides & Help: If you have questions or need help finding your way around the platform, you can find step-by-step instructions and answers to common questions on the official myHealth Help Page. (Note: For direct phone assistance with the portal, you can also call the government's Servizz.gov helpline on freephone 153).

Your Health in Your Pocket: A Doctor’s Guide to myHealth Malta