West Haldimand General Hospital Implements PocketHealth to Share Diagnostic Images

Hagersville, ON, June 15, 2021 — PocketHealth, developer of healthcare’s most unique digital image sharing technology, announced today that West Haldimand General Hospital has broadened its digital healthcare strategy by sharing diagnostic imaging records with patients and referring physicians through the PocketHealth platform.

West Haldimand General Hospital (WHGH) is a fully accredited community hospital, which operates as a primary care facility in partnership with other healthcare providers and community agencies. For nearly 60 years, WHGH has provided active inpatient, urgent care, and outpatient services to Haldimand and surrounding areas, including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and Six Nations of the Grand River. 

PocketHealth is a diagnostic image sharing platform that gives healthcare providers the ability to share diagnostic images with patients, physicians and other healthcare organizations through an easy-to-use online experience. Deployed at over 500 healthcare facilities ranging from imaging clinics to community hospitals and multi-site health systems, PocketHealth creates an infrastructure that enables healthcare providers to send and receive imaging records without the use of networks or CDs.

As a rural hospital serving a widespread geography, the need to access medical records is critical. Clinicians must be able to transfer information quickly and easily, and WHGH identified PocketHealth as a powerful solution to share diagnostic images with patients as well as healthcare providers in their catchment area.

“Many of our patients must travel to our facility and we recognized that CDs just aren’t a sustainable solution for our demographic,” said Lucy Bonanno, President and CEO of West Haldimand General Hospital. “We also must share information with various community partners that don’t have the capacity to implement image exchange networks. PocketHealth is the perfect solution that enables us to quickly and easily transfer imaging records electronically, enabling us to achieve our goal of providing quality care for everyone.”

“West Haldimand General Hospital’s adoption of PocketHealth demonstrates the platform’s flexibility to support a healthcare organization that serves an expansive community,” said Rishi Nayyar, Co-Founder and CEO of PocketHealth. “We are thrilled to help them share imaging records with patients and other providers in order to provide better care.” Nayyar added: “WHGH may be a small-town hospital, but their forward-thinking approach to digital healthcare is full-size!”  

“As Norfolk General Hospital’s (NGH) Diagnostic Imaging (DI) Chief, I support the implementation of PocketHealth at WHGH and am hoping to implement it soon at NGH as well,” said Dr. Naveen Parasu. “Having experienced the use of PocketHealth at Juravinski Hospital, Hamilton, it has made a significant difference to a radiologist’s workflow by being able to compare with imaging done elsewhere in a timely fashion which benefits both patients and referring clinicians.”

About PocketHealth

PocketHealth is a patient-centric cloud platform that enables healthcare providers to share imaging records electronically with patients, instantly and securely. The platform has grown its functionality to enable direct sharing to hospitals and physicians, as well as instant DICOM retrieval and automated importing capability, creating a unified image management solution for over 500 hospitals and imaging clinics across North America. PocketHealth believes that by placing patients at the centre of the record release process, data moves more ethically, easily and securely throughout the care journey. Learn more at www.pocket.health

About West Haldimand General Hospital

West Haldimand General Hospital is a community of approximately 226 staff, physicians, and volunteers that provides exceptional care to more than 25,000 residents in Haldimand County and surrounding areas. WHGH offers expertise in several areas including 24/7 Emergency Department care, Day Surgery, Acute Care, Physiotherapy, Diagnostic Imaging and various specialty clinics. As a 23-bed hospital, we focus daily on improving the quality of care for the patient and family experience. West Haldimand General Hospital opened in March of 1964 and was expanded with the addition of the third floor in 1967 and the Health Care Centre in 1984. The hospital is fully accredited with the Canadian Council of Health Service Facilities. Learn more at www.whgh.ca