Founder of the First Health and Wellness drop-in clinic in Lansdowne Trish Wilkinson, said they had a good first week. PHOTOS/ALEYNA MARTINEZ
ALEYNA MARTINEZ
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Installing a health app designed for patients to always have access to their medical notes called ManageMyHealth has been encouraged for Wairarapa people intending to use the new First Health and Wellness after-hours medical centre in Lansdowne.
Open from 5pm to 9pm, founder Trish Wilkinson said the clinic was an affordable alternative to waiting in ED for extended periods.
Having worked “relentlessly” on opening the clinic for the past three years, Wilkinson’s message to potential patients was: “You’ve asked for it, now make it work”.
The clinic is a drop-in service, meaning patients do not need to be enrolled to use it.
For First Health and Wellness to give people the best care on a casual basis, the staff there recommend people planning to use their service get on the ManageMyHealth patient portal.
On it, people can access their notes, request repeat prescriptions, and view lab results, Wilkinson said.
It is aimed at the preventive side of health and allows people to take responsibility for their health care.
Josie Savage, who is in charge of administration at the clinic said, “it gives us the ability to be able to see their medications and when they’re coming up for renewal”.
“If they have been in hospital, their discharge summaries are also put on the app,” Wilkinson said
First Health and Wellness is a place rural people can use to pick up their prescriptions too, they said.
Developments in health technology, like personal apps, are being embraced by medical staff.
Te Hauora Runanga O Wairarapa is another community health service teaching their patients to manage their own healthcare from their phones.
At this stage, the clinic will not be doing home visits after 5pm, as originally intended when they opened.
“We will be concentrating on urgent care which includes ACC, not long-term conditions,” Wilkinson said.
