Launching with Centrik’s Well patient portal, Tahunanui Medical Centre has become the fourth practice in the region to implement the Well app, and joins two practices from the Green Cross Health network who are using The Doctors branded app.
The latest launch makes Centrik’s modern patient portal technology available to more than 65% of the population in the Nelson region, providing a frictionless solution for patients to connect with their healthcare provider and access their health information.
Apps powered by Centrik include the Well app, available to be implemented by general practices in Aotearoa, as well as the branded Better Health Outcomes app and The Doctors app for the Green Cross Health national network of medical centres.
Using the app, patients can connect with their general practice, access their health records in real-time, book appointments with the option to select a preferred practitioner or the next available booking, attend video consults, request repeat prescriptions, make payments, and message their primary care team. The patient portal is accessible as an app on a mobile device and via a computer and web browser with feature parity.
Real-time integration with the Practice Management System (PMS) using Medtech’s ALEX® API platform ensures that only up-to-date and required data is accessed from the PMS and displayed to patients in the app. Health data is not extracted from or stored outside of the PMS.
For practice staff, implementing a modern patient portal solution has reduced administrative pressure on the team. Patients are able to self-register with the app, reducing patient phone calls to the practice and making launch a hands-off experience for staff.
Practice Manager at Tahunanui Medical Centre, Nikita Williamson, comments, “The implementation of the Well patient portal was smooth and efficient, with excellent support throughout the process. Both patients and staff have provided positive feedback – patients appreciate the ease of use and convenience, while staff benefit from improved workflow and easier access to information. Overall, Well has been a great addition to our practice, enhancing both patient engagement and operational efficiency.”
The majority of practices using Centrik in Nelson are also using pre-payment for script requests. With ongoing development and a fortnightly release cycle, new features are co-designed together with Centrik subscriber practices and are released regularly. This includes payments for script requests and appointment bookings, which was released during 2024.
Mandy Barrow, Practice Manager at Mapua Health Centre, says, “We launched the Well app to our patients using the pre-payment feature for both script requests and appointment bookings. We’ve seen a reduction in debt already as payment is captured in advance. Patients love the app and benefit from having the ability to book appointments online, having access to their health information, allowing them to see their results and easily refer back to health information shared with them by their doctor.”
Adhering to HL7® FHIR® standards for health data interoperability and with event-driven integration with the ALEX® platform, appointment bookings and repeat prescription requests made with Centrik’s patient apps appear directly in the PMS. Patients can also manage their bookings, with changes reflected in the PMS appointment book, as well as track the status of their medication requests.
Find out more about Centrik on the website.