Medical Monday Patient Portal

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Some hospitals, like Northern Light AR Gould, are moving toward patient portals. This portal provides services and contact with medical professionals at the click of a button.

Jennifer Fogel, the VP Nursing Informatic Officer for Northern Light AR Gould says, “Having the portal and having one place to go, you’re not having to go to multiple different websites or multiple different locations to get what you need for your care.”

Fogel is talking about the AR Gould’s patient portal. While the hospital has had the portal in place for years, Fogel says it has become more important in recent years.

Fogel adds, “With Covid, the use of the portal really increased about 120%. So we saw a huge increase in the use of the portal from all populations. And we recognize as we look at technology and how people engage in their own care now a days that we really needed to make changes to the portal and to really push those changes and make things like that more acceptable.”

Through the portal, patients can schedule appointments, see test results, view Covid vaccines cards and have virtual video visits. Any Northern Light patient can create a portal, including parents as a proxy for their children beginning at the child’s birth.

“It’s a way for them to be a participant in their care. Because we know that patients that participate and are active in their care do better. Everyone has a phone that they’re attached to and what easy way, you’ve got the app on your phone, you click, you go in, you can get access to whatever you need.” according to Fogel.

This service is available to anyone that is a patient at Northern Light AR Gould. To sign up for a patient portal visit Northern Light’s website. https://northernlighthealth.org/myNorthernLightHealth/Home

Copyright 2022 WAGM. All rights reserved.