Patients in Revelstoke will now benefit from secure online access to their health information as Interior Health launches MyHealthPortal at Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH) next week.
“We are working to ensure patients have all the information they need so they can take charge of their own health to make important care decisions,” Health Minister Terry Lake. Said in a statenent. “Having access to lab and diagnostic imaging results, for example, can help patients better prepare for doctor appointments.”
Interior Health is the first health authority in BC to launch this type of online patient portal.
“These are exciting times – there are many opportunities to take advantage of technology to enhance health care,” Interior Health Board Chairman Erwin Malzer said in the statement. “Now, patients will be able to view information such as their Interior Health lab results, as well as diagnostic imaging reports, appointments, and recent visit history. This is part of an orderly roll-out and is expected to be the foundation of more advanced digital tools available to help inform our patients and help them to participate in their own care.”
The first site to pilot the new online tool was Shuswap Lake General Hospital in Salmon Arm in June. QVH is the site of the second pilot. Following a staged roll-out, the portal will be available for all hospital patients over the age of 16.
Members of the MyHealthPortal project team will be at the Revelstoke hospital from September 19 through September 30 to enroll interested patients.
To sign up, patients must show legal photo identification and their Care Card or BC Services Card in order to verify their identity. They will be given a login ID and password that they will be able to use on their own device – such as a home computer, tablet or smart phone. Then they simply go to the MyHealthPortal page on Interior Health’s web site at www.interiorhealth.ca/MyHealthPortal to log in.
In addition, Revelstoke is the first site to offer remote enrolment, as well as the on-site registration. Patients who ask to have their email address added to their patient record at Registration during their next visit to QVH can then submit an enrolment request at www.interiorhealth.ca/MyHealthPortal. MyHealthPortal support will contact them by phone to verify their identity and complete enrolment.
Okanagan resident and Patient Voices Network volunteer Diane Edlund has been involved with the project’s development, offering the patient and user perspective. “This will help patients be more proactive in looking after their health – an important element of patient empowerment which leads to better health outcomes,” she said. “For example, a person can now obtain results from an emergency room or hospital visit to be sure that nothing falls through the cracks in the transition of care back to the community. They can retrieve their results from MyHealthPortal and take them to a physician of their choice.”
