Success Stories
A North Bay Success Story
Mihealth
Mihealth Puts Your Medical Info In Your Pocket
As a North Bay family physician, Dr. Wendy Graham never imagined she’d play a role in revolutionizing the practice of medicine, but she’s poised to do just that with an application called Mihealth 
.
Able to run on any smartphone or personal computer, Mihealth gives patients and their caregivers instant, secure access to key health information, including family history, main diagnoses, medications, allergies, immunization records and insurance providers. And Mihealth’s messaging functionality means doctors can notify patients about upcoming appointments, as well as share test and lab results with them.
Mihealth can be updated as often as necessary and patients can share whatever information they want with any health care provider they choose.
And, unlike other personal health records on the market, Mihealth is doctor-endorsed, with the patient and the family physician entering the data together, after which it’s locked down.
“That’s an important advantage,” says Dr. Graham. “Patients want their medical data confirmed by their physician, and other health care providers need to know that it’s accurate and up to date.”
Graham was at a conference in Washington, D.C. when representatives from Diversinet, a Toronto secure technology provider specializing in applications for health care, presented findings on a U.S. military application that links wounded servicemen with their case managers.
Impressed by the technology, Dr. Graham worked with Diversinet to design an application for use in a general family practice situation – and Mihealth was born.
It has been a hit from the start.
During a six-month pilot at North Bay’s Blue Sky Family Health Team, patients embraced the technology.
“Patients could see the advantages right away,” says Graham. “They liked the idea of getting their test results on their smartphones, knowing that in a crisis, accurate health information would be readily available to caregivers and that their information could go with them wherever they go.”
Physicians proved equally enthusiastic. Mihealth helped them streamline appointment scheduling and call-backs about test results, two time-consuming tasks traditionally done manually. Physicians were also impressed that Mihealth could provide them with the latest, most up-to-date patient information.
