Generation Family Health Centre News
Friday February 12, 2016
Dear Patients,
Close to two years ago now, Generations Family Health Centre began purchasing Wellx as a secure online messaging system. As hoped, this tool allowed for considerably easier and more effective communication between our office and our patients. Likewise, we have heard the feedback from our patients that Wellx is a popular and much appreciated resource from your end as well.
As many of you no doubt recall, this past summer we briefly expected Wellx to cease operations due to financial concerns. While the company subsequently underwent some restructuring and has fortunately remained in operation since, the experience led us at GFHC to consider alternatives for the future.
With that in mind, we have been working closely with Doctors Services Group (DSG) to help them develop a secure online messaging system that would meet our clinic’s (and our patients’) needs. At this time, we are pleased to be going forward with the transition from Wellx to DSG Secure Email. This transition will take effect very soon.
Effective Friday February 19, GFHC will begin using DSG Secure Email (instead of Wellx) for online communication.
Below you will find a link (http://dsgsecure.com) to the DSG portal, allowing you to register and create a password for DSG Secure Email. We encourage all of our patients who are comfortable with this means of communication to sign up, particularly if you’ve already been using Wellx until now.
After February 19, messages sent by Wellx may continue to go through for another week, but Wellx may NOT be checked as in the past. We expect to permanently close our access to the site soon afterward.
In addition to the new Secure Email system, this transition to DSG allows us to broaden the services we offer online as well, including the ability to request appointments online as well as access to a our new clinic website (http://generations.ourmd.ca), where you can find more information on all of these new services as well as many other helpful resources. Please check it out!
As many of you may recognize, Doctors Services Group is also the company that assists GFHC with our Uninsured Services program. From an administrative perspective, moving our secure messaging system to DSG allows us to further streamline our Uninsured Services program. Given recent and ongoing cuts to our provincial health care system, payment for services not covered by OHIP or provincial health plans do fall to the patient and will continue to be enforced.
As in the past, receiving messages online from GFHC has been and will remain free of charge. However, email/online consultation remains an uninsured service in Ontario. Online consultations initiated by patients will continue to be subject to a fee; on the new DSG system, you will be required to pay up front for such consultations if not already covered by our annual block fee. Further clarification regarding what may or may not be considered a medical consultation will be made available on the DSG Secure Email portal, but as a good rule of thumb: If one is asking for medical advice and expecting a response—it likely should be considered a medical consultation.
All of this information and more will be available on our new website (one more time: generations.ourmd.ca!), and we encourage you to explore it. While we expect the transition from Wellx to DSG to be relatively smooth, as always, we thank you in advance for your patience and understanding along the way. If any questions or concerns, please feel free to discuss with our staff or your physician!
With best wishes for a happy & healthy year,
Generations Family Health Centre