The Government of Nova Scotia has announced the expansion of the YourHealthNS app to allow patients to access more information about X-ray results, with Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson commenting that “this is just the beginning”.
From this week, residents of Nova Scotia will be able to access X-ray reports directly from the app, including any report findings, comparisons with previous X-rays, their medical history, and a summary.
The announcement follows the expansion of the province’s electronic health record earlier this month to cover all people province-wide with a valid Nova Scotia health card aged 16 and older.
Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson shared that the province plans to make more records and information available to support residents in taking a more proactive role in their healthcare.
Access to medical records through the YourHealthNS app was piloted in January 2024 with 12,000 patients across four clinics, offering access to information on appointments, hospital or ED visits, discharge information, prescriptions, lab results, and diagnostic imaging scans.
The app itself was first launched in Nova Scotia in November of 2023, as a “one-stop shop” to allow residents to access care and find information “easier and faster”.
Key app features include a personalisable home screen, the ability to book blood tests and X-rays, a search tool to locate nearby health services, access to vaccination records, estimated ED wait times, and a chat function to link patients to a care navigator.
Last month, the Government of Canada signed a bilateral agreement to invest $256 million in improving healthcare access and services in Newfoundland and Labrador, in support of the province’s three-year action plan. As well as expanding access to primary care by adding new family care teams and adding urgent care centres, the plan aims to utilise new models of care to address backlogs, and to use targeted incentive programs to fill positions and increase retention of healthcare workers.
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