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Alaska Island Community Services is launching a new online system to help streamline communication between patients and their healthcare providers.
Valerie Jensen works for Alaska Island Community Services, or AICS. She said the online system, called the NextMD Patient Portal, allows patients to communicate more efficiently with their healthcare providers.
Through the Patient Portal, patients can request, book, or cancel appointments, get renewals on their prescriptions, and send and receive messages with staff at TideLine Clinic.
She said this system saves time and may be more convenient for patients.
“If, Saturday, you feel like you need to schedule an appointment and Monday morning you always forget, this is something you can do right when you’re thinking about it—at home, in the middle of the night, in your pajamas. You can just go online and request the appointment. And that way you don’t have to worry about it and you know you’ll get a call back or a message on your Patient Portal telling you when the next appointment is available,” said Jensen.
Jensen said that although the service is online, it is confidential.
“It’s all secure. All the information is protected. It’s just a really great way to keep your information private but also more accessible to you,” said Jensen.
She said this online system won’t replace phone calls to TideLine Clinic. If patients prefer to speak with a staff member directly, they are always welcome to do so.
Jensen said it’s just a quick and easy alternative.
“It’s really easy to sign up. All we need is an email address. And you’ll get instructions via your email. Anytime there’s any update to the patient portal, if you request an appointment or something like that, the way that it communicates back to you is you get an email to go check the Patient Portal,” said Jensen.
There will be an AICS booth where people can sign up for the Patient Portal at the Health Fair.
The health fair is Saturday, April 6th, from 7am-noon at the Nolan Center.
