New online platform in N.S. designed to build efficiencies within province's health-care system

A doctor is seen in this stock image.

A new program in Nova Scotia was created in hopes to ease some pressure on the province's health-care system by minimizing patient wait times to see a specialist.

The idea for "Virtual Hallway" came from a conversation between two doctors who came up with new treatment options for a patient.

Dr. Luke Napier said the web-based platform is already growing at a rapid rate.

“It’s essentially a scheduler," said Napier. "It makes it easy for a family physician or nurse practitioner to get in touch with a specialist.”

Napier says it's also much faster than an office-based consultation.

“So, if people are on a waitlist to see a specialist, this is the way the doctor or nurse practitioner can consider using to get a specialist involved quite quickly,” said Napier, who added "Virtual Hallway' doesn't directly alleviate the family doctor shortage in Nova Scotia, but it does remove existing significant pressure points from within the health-care system.

“If a primary care provider is working with the patient and developing a treatment plan, this allows that doctor or nurse practitioner to have a conversation with a specialist.”

Erin Sarrazin says the process requires consent from patients to allow doctors and nurse practitioners to work on their behalf.

“I am able to come back to them and offer a solution, to either bridge them to an appointment while they're waiting to see a specialist," said Sarrazin, who is a nurse practitioner. "It can also potentially avoid having them see a specialist at all.”

Sarrazin said "Virtual Hallway" is an innovative solution that leads to incremental efficiencies within Nova Scotia's health-care system.

“Virtual care and using the technology that we have is going to be the future of health care," said Sarrazin. "Especially when you think about our province, when you think about the difficulty people have finding a health-care provider.“

Currently, about 500 primary care providers and more than 50 specialists in Nova Scotia are using "Virtual Hallway," with close to 100 consultations each week.

More information on platform can be found online.