Epic Systems has long used a slogan to describe its software, which hundreds of hospitals and clinics across the globe use to manage their patients’ health records: “with the patient at the heart.”

Verona, WI-based Epic is backing up that credo with a new program that would allow the 190 million people who have a current electronic medical record in Epic to share their health data with providers who document patient information on paper or using software that isn’t able to receive records from the patient’s regular care provider. The move comes amid industry discussions about how health data is shared and who should control the flow of information.

Share Everywhere, which Epic unveiled Wednesday, is designed to put patients in control of their medical records. A patient can give any healthcare provider with an Internet connection access to her health data, Epic says. This spares the patient from lugging around stacks of paper records if he or she is seeing a specialty physician for the first time. Or, if patients are traveling, they would be able to provide their Epic chart to local doctors, who would have the benefit of not starting from scratch in determining a treatment plan.

“Patients should be able to easily share their health information with anyone they choose, no matter where they are,” says Janet Campbell, Epic’s vice president of patient engagement, in a prepared statement. Read the full story here.