{"id":6662,"date":"2024-02-12T17:14:45","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T21:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=6662"},"modified":"2024-02-12T17:19:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T21:19:44","slug":"nova-scotia-health-app-pilot-project-gets-feedback-from-queens-county-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/02\/12\/nova-scotia-health-app-pilot-project-gets-feedback-from-queens-county-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Nova Scotia health app pilot project gets feedback from Queens County patients"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some Nova Scotians will be able to access their medical records via the YourHealthNS app. (Communications Nova Scotia photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

By Rick Conrad<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patients at Queens Family Health in Liverpool will be providing valuable input to Nova Scotia Health over the next few weeks as part of a group of people around the province with early access to their health records on the YourHealthNS app<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

About 3,700 patients of the clinic can sign up and see their doctor and ER visits, medications, test results and immunization record. They must have a valid Nova Scotia health card and be 16 or over.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of a pilot project involving the Queens clinic and three others around the province to give Nova Scotians easier access to their health records. In total, about 12,000 people are eligible to participate. The other clinics are in New Waterford, Westville and Greenwood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nova Scotia Health will be sending out letters to the eligible patients at Queens Family Health. But people can start using the app now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Ashley Miller, the chief medical information officer with Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health, says it can be costly or cumbersome now for patients to get access to their own records.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think people are really appreciative of having a single source of truthful information related to health care, but they\u2019re very much wanting to access their own health data,” she said in a recent interview. <\/span><\/p>\n

“And I see this in my own patient population all the time. It\u2019s very valuable to have access to your own information so that you can appropriately self advocate but also so that you can do research on your own. You can consult your own network of friends, colleagues, family to make decisions about your own health.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Miller says officials wanted diversity in demographics and geography for the pilot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for clinics who were early adopters, people who understand the importance and potential of digital transformation in enhancing the experience of Nova Scotians. So it was a combination of working with the willing but also looking to have a representative sample so we could really learn from this pilot experience and inform our next steps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Queens Family Health has five family physicians and one nurse practitioner. Miller said they were also looking for clinics who would give regular feedback and evaluate how care was affected by using the app.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the goals is to cut down on unnecessary visits to the doctor\u2019s office to get test results. They’re already getting feedback from around the province.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty-nine per cent of people who answered this survey so far said yes that in fact it actually prevented the need for a visit. So in a health care system where we know the demand exceeds the capacity currently, the potential for patients to gain access to care without needing to book an appointment with a provider is really appealing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Miller says that within the first day of the project\u2019s launch last week, more than 700 lab and diagnostic records were accessed.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for privacy, Miller says she understands if some patients are hesitant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the benefits of this application is that none of the personal health information is stored in the actual application itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And she says people don\u2019t have to participate or use the app if they\u2019re unsure. If you do, however, you can opt out at any time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scott McKenna, Nova Scotia Health\u2019s chief information officer, says they\u2019ve put privacy and security \u201cfront and centre\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the principles of this is that we would rather miss one of your health records than serve you up incorrect health records,” he said in an interview. <\/span><\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve done a lot of matching with a high level of confidence across multiple fields to make sure that record\u2019s confidence before we serve it up. And we may even hold back on your health records becasue we weren\u2019t sure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Miller says she\u2019s also not concerned about people diagnosing themselves instead of visiting their doctor. In fact, she says, research has shown that it\u2019s better to give patients more control over their information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPatients are better able to interpret their own health care experience and their medications and their treatment as well as advocate for themselves when they have access to their data.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Miller says she encourages patients in the pilot project to give feedback on the app.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a patient at Queens Family Health, let us know about your experience with the app. Email us at <\/span>rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>cjqcradio@gmail.com<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/healthappstoryfeb1224.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rick Conrad Patients at Queens Family Health in Liverpool will be providing valuable input to Nova Scotia Health over the next few weeks as part of a group of people around the province with early access to their health records on the YourHealthNS app. About 3,700 patients of the clinic can sign up and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[1731,1701,1595,39,537,1733,49,1666,1732,1730],"class_list":["post-6662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-ashley-miller","tag-health-app","tag-health-care","tag-liverpool","tag-nova-scotia-health","tag-patient-records","tag-queens-county","tag-queens-family-health","tag-scott-mckenna","tag-yourhealthns-app"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6662"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6666,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6662\/revisions\/6666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}