Nova Scotia expanding access to YourHealthNS app provincewide

The Nova Scotia government is expanding access to a $15-million smartphone app that lets patients see their own medical records.

The government gave early access to 13,824 patients in six clinics around the province from January to April to the YourHealthNS app. One of those clinics was Queens Family Health in Liverpool.

After gathering feedback from users in the pilot, it announced Wednesday that anyone over 16 with a valid Nova Scotia health card can now download the app and access its features.

The biggest draw of the app is the ability for people to access their own medical records, prescriptions, lab and test results and immunizations. It also allows you to see your hospital, clinic or other medical appointments.

Patients can also schedule some appointments through the app.

Michelle Thompson is Nova Scotia’s health and wellness minister. She said the app helps give Nova Scotians control over their own health care.

“We started small with a test-and-try approach, but the results were huge,” Thompson said at a Wednesday news conference. “Those who used it liked it. It improved their health care experience, gave them more control over their care, but most importantly, it put health care back in their hands.

“You can now carry your medical history in your pocket wherever you go.”

Officials with Nova Scotia Health told reporters at a technical briefing that more than 300,000 Nova Scotians have already downloaded the app.

Of the pilot project participants, 98 per cent said they would continue to use the app, while 30 per cent said they felt they didn’t need to see their primary care provider because they had access to their records. 

Officials could not say how many people actually used the app. They said that because of privacy concerns, they did not track individual users and how they used the app. The information came from a voluntary feedback survey in the app. Officials did not know how many people responded to the survey.

“We know from our evaluation here but also from other jurisdictions around the world, this empowers patients,” said Dr. Aaron Smith, medical executive director, Northern Zone, and provincial medical executive director. 

“This allows patients to manage their own health. And the impact on providers is also profound. We know folks feel more engaged in their health, they better understand their health. It allows a significant numbers of folks to avoid unnecessary visits to both emergency department and primary care facilities. It allows physicians to really focus on what they need to do, which is care of acutely ill people.”

The YourHealthNS app has cost the government $15 million in total, with $2 million of that spent on the pilot project and another $3 million for the rollout to all of Nova Scotia.

Officials said Wednesday that protecting people’s privacy was one of their primary concerns.

“We are ensuring that people’s information is safe and citizens can see their own information and other than a few folks who will do audit functions to ensure everything is fine, there will be nobody else that can see that information,” Thompson said.

During the pilot phase, some participants in Queens County said that they either had no information available or the information they saw changed from day to day. Others said they could see all their records.

Scott McKenna, chief information officer for Nova Scotia Health, said that everybody should be able to see their health records now.

“Those are the lessons we’ve learned from the pilot. Now we’ve matched records a little bit differently, put some new algorithms in place to make sure we’re matching records based with a high level of confidence on health card number and date of birth. … Those individuals would see their health records now.” 

Thompson said she’s confident that people will see information that’s reliable and up to date.

“The point of a test and try is that we bring individuals into the pilot. We understand the technology, we understand the interface with the people who are using the technology and we build on their feedback and their experience.

“We’re very grateful to those initial pilot participants. It really gave us the opportunity to understand the app, build the app, get their feedback, see what the experience was and move on from there. And so I feel very confident in the team and their ability to continue to deliver the iterations of this app. And I do believe the app will be of huge benefit to Nova Scotians.”

More records like primary care visits with doctors, nurse practitioners or through pharmacy clinics will be added over the coming months, Thompson said, with the goal of having all of that information available by the end of September.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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