Waiting for action
Trivers wants walk-in clinic app to be used in pilot across P.E.I.
An opposition MLA wants to know why an app developed in P.E.I. to help reduce walk-in clinic wait times is not being used more widely in the province.
During Tuesday’s question period, Rustico-Emerald MLA Brad Trivers said the “Skip the Waiting Room” app was developed through a $25,000 Innovation P.E.I. grant in 2015 and is now used in more than 1,200 walk-in clinics throughout Canada.
However, in P.E.I., it is only used at Charlottetown’s downtown clinic.
“It seems strange a locally developed technology has greater take-up off of P.E.I. than on P.E.I.,” said Trivers, who wants the province to start a pilot project with the app across the Island.
“This is a way we could really help our rural areas.”
The app, which Trivers said costs a couple of hundred dollars per month per clinic, allows patients to book an appointment online rather than having to register at the clinic in person. Patients then receive a call when it’s time to leave for their appointment.
The app’s website lists the downtown walk-in clinic as the only one in P.E.I. with online registration. There is also a notice stating that as of May 1, Skip the Waiting Room charges a service fee of $5 plus tax for booking appointments online.
Health Minister Robert Mitchell described the app as a valuable tool and said the province could discuss with clinics whether they’d like to start using the service.
However, he said it’s ultimately not up to the province whether those walk-in clinics decide to use the app.
He said that’s because most of the clinics are run by fee-forservice doctors.
“They are private businesses, they run their own entities, they provide their own staff, they provide their own services,” said Mitchell. “This (app) can be part of a fully integrated system…, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. This is something that could be stand-alone. We will continue to have those conversations.”
Trivers said the decision to use the app is something that “has to be driven from the top.”
“We need leadership from this government,” said Trivers. “Here we have a locally developed technology, it’s Islanders doing what this government says they want to encourage, a ‘made in P.E.I. solution.’ It’s something that can be put in place quickly, it’s something that will be effective.”