Make the Healthline App Part of Your Holiday Prep

Media Release

Date: 20 December 2013

Make the Healthline App Part of Your Holiday Prep

Click for big version.

Healthline’s new symptom checker app for iPhones and iPads will take a lot of the guesswork and worry out for mothers of young children while Waikato families are away from their general practice this summer.

Hayley Hohneck, mum of three-year-old Stella and one-year-old Amelia said she has already downloaded the app as part of her Christmas and summer holiday preparations.

“We will be away from home a lot over the next few weeks,” said Mrs Hohneck.

“And the Healthline symptom checker app is great piece of mind for me.

“Because of the ages of my children, they are not always able to express exactly what they are feeling, so this is a great tool to establish the seriousness of their illness or injury – especially while away from home.”

The app is free to download for iPhones and iPads and via the Healthline website.

The app is specific to New Zealand conditions and offers a comprehensive list of symptoms for men, women, children and newborns.

Users can search the symptoms by body part or descriptor, i.e. rash, and offers the appropriate course of action to treat the symptoms ranging from getting medical treatment or how to treat the ailment from home for less serious conditions.

Thames Hospital clinical director Ruth Large is impressed by the app and said that she has been showing it to people who come into Thames ED.

“Instead of giving them a piece of paper with symptoms to look out for, if they’ve got an iPhone, I can use the app to show them,” said Dr Large.
Information about the symptom checker app is on Waikato and Thames hospitals’ emergency departments’ posters and banners and on fliers given to patients about where to go for medical help.

“There are also lots of visitors from out of town in the Thames area over the Christmas and New Year period, so that’s another good opportunity for us to let people know about the app and how helpful it is,” said Dr Large.

Healthline received over 8500 calls from the Waikato District Health Board region in the July to September 2013 quarter, and demand is expected to remain high over the holiday period.

ENDS

© Scoop Media