Aucklanders – put Healthline in your pocket these holidays!

Aucklanders – put Healthline in your pocket these holidays!

19 December 2013

Aucklanders heading away on holiday can now take Healthline with them! Healthline received nearly 30,000 calls from the Auckland, Waitemata and Counties Manukau DHB regions in the July to September 2013 quarter, and demand is expected to remain high over the holiday period.

The Healthline symptom checker is an easy to download and use free app that provides expert health advice and information from Healthline, complementing the Healthline telephone advice service.

People find their symptoms from a comprehensive list on the app – for example, ‘rash – widespread’ – or by using the ‘browse by body parts’ option, and the app then suggests a course of action. That could be to call an ambulance, see a doctor within 24 hours or advice on how to manage the condition at home, just as when people phone Healthline.

The symptom checker has been tailored for New Zealand conditions, with emergency numbers, such as the National Poisons Centre and information on health organisations.

The app is available to download free onto Apple iPhones or iPads via a link from the Healthline website: www.healthline.govt.nz, or direct from the Apple App store, and is likely to be rolled out to other technology in the future.

Healthline is funded by the Ministry of Health and provided by Medibank Health Solutions.

ENDS

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