Nova Scotia Health Expands Geriatric Medicine Outpatient Services for Older Nova Scotians
Nova Scotia Health’s Geriatric Medicine Clinic has expanded its services from two locations to three with a new location on the Dartmouth General Hospital campus.
This new clinic location means patients in Dartmouth and along the province’s Eastern Shore now have the option to access a clinic closer to their community. This past fall, the Geriatric Medicine Clinic began seeing patients at a new location at 18 Acadia St. who were experiencing frailty, dementia, increased falls or other age-related health issues such as changes in memory or thinking.
On January 22, the Dartmouth General Foundation invited donors, Barb Adams, MLA for Eastern Passage and other guests to tour the facility and officially celebrate the opening of this new clinic.
Update on YourHealthNS and Text Message Based Appointment Reminders
~shared on behalf of Scott McKenna, Chief Information Officer, Nova Scotia Health & IWK Health
On Jan. 13, Nova Scotia Health expanded functionality in YourHealthNS that gives Nova Scotians access to upcoming medical appointments in the Records section of the app, as well as the ability to allow push notifications from the app to remind them of their upcoming appointments. In addition, NSH began sending text message reminders for some NSH and IWK Health appointments and most specialist appointments.
Launching these initiatives involved consolidating information from nearly 900 systems and while extensive testing was conducted before the launch, live patient data could not be used, which meant some issues could not be anticipated.
Early last week, the text message appointment reminder service was paused after it was discovered a small proportion of patients had incorrect times included in their reminder notifications.
Our teams are continuing to fine-tune appointment reminders to eliminate confusion and improve the overall patient experience.
In response to valuable feedback from both clinicians and citizens regarding the timing and clarity of YourHealthNS appointment notifications, Nova Scotia Health has also implemented several improvements to better meet clinician and patient needs:
- To better accommodate clinic workflows, we’ve introduced a seven-day delay before appointments appear in YourHealthNS. This ensures clinics can contact patients directly before appointments are visible in the system.
- Appointments will only appear for the coming month (28 days), recognizing many changes can happen in schedules for both citizens and clinicians over a longer timeframe. Just showing the next month will ensure patients don’t receive multiple changes or information for tentative appointments.
- We have also temporarily paused information on:
- Specialist appointments from non-hospital appointment booking systems (e.g., private surgeon offices).
- Certain appointment areas to ensure that sensitive information can be communicated with patients most appropriately.
- Language in the YourHealthNS app has been updated to clarify appointment location details and to remind citizens to refer to the information provided by their clinic, since not all details can be captured in a brief notification on the app.
If you/your clinic is experiencing specific issues related to these appointment reminders, please reach out directly to appointment.reminder@nshealth.ca.
The text message appointment reminder service will remain paused until we are confident our partners are aligned with all these new changes.
Thank you again for your patience and support.
Scott McKenna,
Chief Information Officer
Nova Scotia Health & IWK Health
Dalhousie Department of Medicine 2023-2024 Annual Report: Foundations for Success
~shared on behalf of the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University
We’re pleased to highlight the Dalhousie Department of Medicine’s recently published 2023-24 Annual Report, Foundations for Success, which celebrates foundational achievements, innovations, and collaborations advancing healthcare across the Maritimes and beyond.
Among many notable milestones from the department’s fifteen divisions, the report showcases collaborative approaches to rare disease treatment, the launch of Nova Scotia’s first Early Supported Stroke Discharge program, advancements in CAR T-cell therapy bringing life-saving cancer treatments closer to home, and research addressing gender disparities in kidney transplantation.
At the core of these accomplishments is a network of partnerships – administrators, clinicians, researchers, and educators – working seamlessly to ensure the very best in patient care.
Read the full report today!
CEHHC Fitness Centre Opens for Staff and Physicians
Great news for staff and physicians at Colchester East Hants Health Centre (CEHHC)! The new Fitness Centre is now open, offering access to a range of fitness equipment, generously sponsored by the Colchester East Hants Health Centre Foundation. The centre is available free of charge before, during (on breaks), and after work hours. For more details, contact NZWellness@nshealth.ca.
Watch the virtual tour video here.
January 20-27 is National Non-Smoking Week
This week highlights the importance of addressing the health risks associated with smoking and promoting the benefits of a smoke-free lifestyle. Tobacco use remains one of the leading preventable causes of premature death in Canada, claiming approximately 46,000 lives each year.
To learn more about how to support your patients through smoking cessation, visit Nova Scotia Health's Stop Smoking Program.
The full newsletter is here.
