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Nearly a year after launching its Hello Brave online appointment scheduling platform, LifeBridge Health has launched a new mobile app for patients and consumers.
Available for download for iPhone and Android smartphones, the LifeBridge Health Mobile app enables users to access services including the physician directory, the patient portal and online scheduling on the go.
The app is one additional piece of LifeBridge’s all-encompassing strategy to improve access and eliminate barriers to health care. In October of last year, the health system launched “Hello Brave,” an online scheduling platform that allows patients to book their own appointments.
Since its debut, Hello Brave has increased to more than 160 physician offices, including primary care physicians and physician specialists.
“Many of us are accustomed to making our own reservations at salons and restaurants, but the health care industry has been slow to adopt this approach. We are excited to be a leader in this area and meet patients where they are with a service that is both convenient and flexible,” Brian Deffaa, LifeBridge Health’s chief marketing officer said in a statement.
In the first nine months of Hello Brave’s availability, 30% of appointments were booked after regular business hours, Deffaa said. Many users are also accessing the platform from their mobile phones.
“Incorporating Hello Brave into the new mobile app provides a seamless experience for our patients. We believe that ease of access is part of the overall patient experience, and we are eager to see more patients taking advantage of these digital services,” Deffaa said.
Through the app, users can find and schedule appointments, log into their patient portal to view lab and test results, send a message to and communicate with their physicians, pay bills, request medication refills and find COVID-19 and other health resources. LifeBridge also promotes events and shares important health information in the app, such as how to recognize signs of a stroke.
The app has been downloaded by nearly 1,000 users since its launch in mid-August and continues to grow. LifeBridge Health executives expect that number to grow since the Hello Brave features are available within the app.
Hello Brave has grown by approximately three to five percent per week, with a high of roughly 100 self-scheduled appointments daily, executives said. Of those booking, nearly 30% of those are new patients.
LifeBridge – one of the largest and comprehensive providers of health services in Maryland – is comprised of Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital, Carroll Hospital, Grace Medical Center, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers and LifeBridge Health & Fitness.
