Local residents with Interior Health’s MyHealthPortal won’t have to leave their couch in order to book lab appointments at the Kootenay Lake Hospital Outpatient Laboratory
“Booking appointments online enhances patient safety and convenience by supporting physical distancing measures, minimizing wait times, and allowing patients to book their appointments from the comfort of their home,” said Interior Health.
The health authority said online booking for lab appointments is being added to the MyHealthPortal at select lab locations and will be updated in the coming months as part of their regional roll-out of the new initiative.
MyHealthPortal was launched back in 2016 by Interior Health as a convenient way to provide patients with their personal health information through a secure access point. Whether it’s the patient’s lab results, medical imaging reports from X-rays, CT scans, or ultrasounds, discharge summaries, clinical reports, or certain details or instructions, Interior Health said all of the information is included in the MyHealthPortal.
“Patients must be registered users of MyHealthPortal to book a lab appointment,” clarified Interior Health.
MORE: MyHealthPortal Enrollment (Interior Health)
Interior Health said once residents are registered on MyHealthPortal they can book a lab appointment by following these steps:
- Open MyHealthPortal
- Click on the “Appointments” tab
- Click on the “Schedule an Appointment” button
- Select the appointment type (e.g., blood test)
- The dropdown menu only includes select locations accepting online appointments
“Patients not registered for MyHealthPortal may still access a limited number of walk-in appointments Monday to Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm,” said Interior Health. “Telephone appointments, which have been trialed in response to COVID-19 concerns, will be phased out after implementation of the online booking system.”
Given the COVID-19 pandemic, Interior Health’s operating hours for several of their services may have changed. The health authority is encouraging residents to ensure they are aware of their local laboratory’s hours of operation.
MORE: Outpatient Laboratory Temporary Hours (Interior Health)
According to Interior Health, over 100,000 patients have enrolled with MyHealthPortal.
“In a customer experience survey, more than 90% of respondents reported a positive experience with enrolment and use of the portal,” said the health authority.