New My UCI Health app to permit patients easy access to health information
App is now available for download
October 11, 2018
UCI Health patients on the go now can download a free mobile app that will allow them to find physicians, request appointments, refill prescriptions and get parking information.
With the My UCI Health app, patients have easy access to their health records through the MyChart patient portal. After logging in to MyChart through the app, patients can send secure messages to their healthcare providers, view immunization records and even check lab and imaging results.
“Mobile technology has the potential to transform healthcare,” said Richard J. Gannotta, DHA, FACHE, chief executive officer of the UCI Health system. “The My UCI Health app empowers patients to quickly find an urgent care center or see their latest cholesterol test results. Patients can now have convenient, comprehensive information at their fingertips, whenever and wherever they need it.”
The app also allows for enhanced communication between physicians and patients, said Chief Medical Information Officer Scott Rudkin, MD, MBA.
“You can get your test results faster, you can get refills faster,” said Rudkin, a professor of emergency medicine in the UCI School of Medicine. “It is a way for you to speak with your doctor or nurse more efficiently. Engaged patients can actually improve their own healthcare.”
The Pew Research Center reported earlier this year that 77 percent of Americans own a smart phone and a growing share use them as their primary source of online access at home. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regards mobile phone apps as an “excellent way to deliver public health information.”
My UCI Health users can find a wealth of information on everything from hospital cafeteria hours and cancer support groups to where to donate blood. Users also can search a database of UCI Health physicians by location and specialty, view their credentials and read their bios.
For visitors to UC Irvine Medical Center, the app shows hospital visitation hours, the gift shop’s location as well as how to order flowers.
Charles Podesta, UCI Health chief information officer, said the app will be particularly useful as new UCI Health locations are added, such as the recently opened UCI Health Newport — Birch Street, which offers advanced specialty services in Newport Beach.
“We’re spreading geographically far and wide,” Podesta said. “There are going to be a lot of people going to new UCIHealth sites. We can add those to our wayfinding section of the app so they can click to get directions and know exactlywhere to park.”
As more services become available in the future, the app willbe updated and may even include telemedicine. Pat Patton, MSN, RN, chief nursing officerforUCI Health, said patients could potentially install the app on a tablet for virtual appointments with their doctors.
“If we can do that, UCI would be a leader in this area,” Patton said.
The My UCI Health app, which was developed by Podesta’s team, is now available for download on Apple and Android mobile devices.
To download the app, go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-uci-health/id1371776512?mt=8
or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.uci.health.MyUCIHealth1
About UCI Health: UCI Health comprises the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. Patients can access its physicians at offices throughout Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, California. The 417-bed acute care hospital provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, and behavioral health and rehabilitation services. U.S. News & World Report has listed it among “America’s Best Hospitals” for 18 consecutive years. UCI Medical Center is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program, Level I trauma center and Level II pediatric trauma center, and it’s the primary teaching hospital for the UCI School of Medicine. UCI Health serves a region of more than 3 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
