Residents in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area may find it easier to connect with a family doctor or nurse practitioner thanks to the launch of a new program.
The Patient Attachment Mechanism (PAM) program is being introduced to patients in the Oceanside Health Region, the greater Parksville Qualicum Beach area. The PAM program will match unattached patients to family doctors and nurse practitioners in the area.
The Oceanside Division of Family Practice, in partnership with the General Practice Services Committee and Island Health, has launched its new online self-registry program at https://www.divisionsbc.ca/oceanside/PAM.
This online registration system is simple and easy to use and takes approximately one minute per person, according to a release from the Oceanside Division of Family Practice.
Upon completion, the user is sent email confirmation, along with a list of health-care options to utilize while waiting for attachment.
This is a wait list and registrants will only be contacted once there is capacity in their community.
Patients who do not have internet access can apply in person by filling out the form at the Oceanside Health Centre (489 Alberni Hwy., Parksville).
The health centre also has trained volunteer staff on hand to help those fill in the survey if need be.
“This tool was created in response to local patient frustration when they had nowhere to turn if they had no health-care practitioner in the area,” the release reads.
Moving forward with a shared care model, this patient registry will hold a database of patients awaiting care, and any family physician or nurse practitioner in the area (whether an existing care provider or new to the area) will have a single point of contact to quickly find those patients who need them the most.
“We have successfully attached many patients already using this new tool, just in the first few months since it has been up and running,” the Oceanside Division of Family Practice release stated.
This service is available only for patients who do not already have a family doctor or nurse practitioner located in the Oceanside Health Region, and who live in the Oceanside Health Region.
— Submitted by the Oceanside Division of Family Practice