Nova Scotia Health has paused the text message notification feature for appointments on the YourHealthNS app.. (Nova Scotia Government YouTube channel)
Nova Scotia Health is still working on glitches in its new text message and appointment reminder service through the YourHealthNS app.
It suspended the new features last Wednesday when some people reported getting incorrect information about their appointments.
At least 2,100 texts, or about 10 per cent of all messages, were sent to phones with the wrong information. Other messages weren’t clear whether the appointment was in-person or virtual. And some got notices of appointments that didn’t even exist.
Nova Scotia Health said Monday that it has introduced a seven-day delay before appointments appear in the YourHealthNS app.
Appointments will only appear for the coming month. And notifications will be stopped on specialist appointments not made through hospital booking systems, like private clinics.
The text message reminder feature will be on hold while officials test the changes and make sure they work properly, Nova Scotia Health said.
Rosalee Smith is one of the Queens County residents participating in the YourHealthNS app pilot project. (Rick Conrad)
It’s been about six weeks since the Nova Scotia government launched a pilot project to allow some Nova Scotians to check their medical records through the YourHealthNS app.
Some 12,000 patients at four clinics around the province were given early access to their lab and X-ray results, list of medications, and visits to the ER and their primary care provider.
Nova Scotia Health says it’s part of giving people more involvement and control over their care, and to help them make more informed decisions.
About 3,700 patients at Queens Family Health in Liverpool are eligible to participate. The other project sites are in New Waterford, Westville and Greenwood.
For some, it’s been a frustrating experience.
Rosalee Smith of Eagle Head said she was eager to sign on to the app when she heard about the pilot project.
“I found it frustrating, because I guess my original understanding (was) perhaps there was going to be a little more information available than maybe what there is.”
Smith says she seems to get different information every time she checks the app.
“I’m not sure how valuable that piece will be until I understand what the information’s supposed to provide. I’ve gone on to the app several times. And sometimes there’s records there and sometimes there isn’t. I’ve never seen any records of my primary care visits, never seen any records of my blood work results.”
A week after initially speaking to QCCR, Smith said she could see a partial list of her medications, her lab results, ER visits, but no bloodwork results and no primary care visits.
Her mother, who has a different primary care provider, was able to see all of her health visits, but her medications and lab results were incomplete.
She says friends of hers had the same experience — sometimes their records were there and sometimes they were incomplete. She said other people told her their records were complete.
Smith filled out three feedback surveys through the app. When she didn’t get a response, she contacted Nova Scotia Health directly and sent a two-page form to correct her medical record.
She even left a comment on a sponsored Facebook post on the weekend from Nova Scotia Health about the app.
No one had responded to any of her concerns, until Wednesday afternoon, when she got a reply in response to her Facebook comment. She was told her complaint was forwarded to the department’s technology department and that someone would contact her directly.
“I think it’s a good app,” Smith says.
“I think the features and the types of things that we’re trying to put out here for information, it’s good. But let’s do it right. And if we’re in the pilot project, listen to us when we make the comments.”
Andrew Danylewich of Liverpool checked the app when the pilot project launched. He said he was able to see only a list of his hospital and health visits. And that hasn’t changed since.
“But I haven’t been able to see my labs and medications. I did check to see if my prescriptions were up and they weren’t there yet. It’s not terribly useful yet, but I can see potential in the future once they get it rolling properly.”
Officials with Nova Scotia Health said this week that patients are giving them some good feedback on the app, and that people seem eager to use it.
Scott McKenna, chief information officer with Nova Scotia Health, said in an interview on Monday that if people send their questions or concerns via the survey, someone is supposed to follow up.
“We need to ensure that we’re getting back to every citizen,” he said.
“Our teams are doing a really good job at that. Obviously, there are some individuals who we need to get back to on that. The intention of our staff is to look into every issue. … Because we have to make sure it works as it’s intended to work.”
Dr. Tara Sampalli is Nova Scotia Health’s senior director of implementation science and evaluation and global health systems planning.
She said department staff review the feedback every week so they can address concerns as they come up.
“Everybody is reviewing everything. Nothing is going unnoticed. We improve in real time. And that’s part of this. We want to hear. You’re providing us some really good information from the community and what people are seeing or not seeing.”
McKenna says that overall, response to the app has been positive. And that it seems to working for the majority of participants. But he urges people to keep sending feedback on the app, even though they may be frustrated.
He said staff are trying to consolidate records from disparate parts of the health care system, and that they’d rather give an incomplete record than an incorrect one.
The pilot project runs to the end of March. Those who have access to their records now won’t lose it when the pilot is over.
Sampalli says the department is working on a broader information update for Nova Scotians.
Rosalee Smith says she looks forward to that.
“I don’t want it to be political. This is about our health. So I think it’s good progress. I’m not here to bash. My point is if it’s not going to work right or if it’s got issues, then let’s figure out how to fix the issues.”
Parks Canada Staff taking measurements of blanding’s turtle with Terranaut Club participants. Photo Courtesy Terranaut Club
A program launched through Parks Canada got young girls into the woods and working on science.
Kejimkujik National Park and Historic site has joined with the Terranaut Club to encourage women and under-represented genders to enter STEM fields.
According to reports, those groups account for just 25 percent of people involved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics across Canada.
This past summer Parks Canada staff and Terranaut Club teamed up to offer youth aged 9-18 the experience of working on three separate projects mentored by women.
Terranaut Club founder Julia Whidden says you never know what event will spark someone’s passion for learning.
“Sometimes all you need is one really meaningful experience that can change everything for you and open a lot of new doors to careers that maybe you never considered,” said Whidden.
Over three outings the youth and their mentors studied funghi, worked on conservation programs involving piping plovers, sea birds and seals, looked into the impacts of invasive species like chain pickerel and monitored the progress of blanding’s turtles.
Whidden says the association with Keji happened after an executive with Parks Canada heard her being interviewed on the radio and approached her with the thought both groups had something to offer.
Parks Canada Environmental Scientist Megan Gallant was one of the mentors involved in the program.
She says Kejimkujik is the perfect place to introduce youth to STEM.
“We are among a few national parks and systems in the world that have a great system wide ecological integrity monitoring and reporting program,” said Gallant. “So across the country we have more than 700 scientific measures that inform park-specific priorities and guides to restoration action so we certainly do have a lot of exciting and hands-on science and nature experiences to offer youth.”
Gallant says she remembers being a young girl and feeling that the environmental field wasn’t for her based on her gender.
She’s glad to now mentor other girls and show STEM is for everyone.
“I’m so happy, on a personal note, to see programs like this because I would have loved to have these when I was a little girl growing up to kind of reinforce yourself and see other females in the field doing the work that you are very capable of doing.”
Whidden says it’s important for the group to make the experience available to everyone and so they offer a pay what you can model.
The Terranaut Club receives funding from corporate donations, grants and fundraising.
Families are asked to pay what they can so those that can pay a little more help provide an experience for those who maybe can’t afford as much.
Whidden says STEM fields are only going to become more important and the people working to drive technology need to represent everyone.
“It’s essential that they are diverse so that we can make sure that when we’re tackling these problems were tackling them from, you know responsible points of view, diverse points of view,” said Whidden. “Making sure that the challenges that we face, we’re really thinking of outcomes that are going to benefit everyone and not just people who look like we do.”
She expects the mentor program will continue next year is hopeful collaboration between the Terranaut Club and Parks Canada will become a formal partnership.
