Martin's Point Expands Online Service

Patients Personal Points Now in Windham and Newington

(PORTLAND, Maine) ÷ Martin's Point Health Care has expanded its breakthrough interactive, Internet-based service to patients at its facilities in Windham, Maine, and Newington, N.H.

Called Patients Personal Points, the service creates a cyberlink between doctors, nurses and patients, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It allows patients to discuss medical issues, request prescription refills and appointments, and seek and receive health care information ÷ confidentially ÷ all with the click of a mouse on their personal computers.

When introduced last summer at its Brunswick, Maine, facility, the program attracted national attention and now has more than 650 patients signed up at that site. Martin's Point plans to offer the popular interactive service to its Portland patients later this spring.

"This breakthrough technology has proven itself useful to our patients by making our practice accessible to them around the clock, and the response from physicians has been positive as well," said David Howes, M.D., president and chief medical officer of Martin's Point Health Care.

When launched in August, Martin's Point was the first primary care practice in Maine, the second in New England ÷ and the third in the country ÷ to offer this particular interactive electronic communication service.

The service, created by MediVation, Inc., of Needham, Mass., utilizes web technology for interactive and confidential communications that are initiated by either the enrolled patient through their personal medical web page or by facility staff, all in a password-protected area on the Martin's Point web site, www.martinspoint.org. To sign up, Martin's Point patients in Brunswick and now Windham and Newington need only to log on to the web site and click "sign up," and at no charge to the patient.
-more-


Page 2 ÷ Martin's Point expands innovative Internet-based service


Martin's Point physicians and staff members also utilize the service to answer queries, remind patients of appointments, pre-screen patients and distribute personalized health-care information.

Established in 1981, Martin's Point Health Care is the largest non-profit primary care practice in the state. The organization employs 290 healthcare professionals who serve 44,000 patients in Portland, Windham, Brunswick and in Newington, N.H. Headquartered in Portland at 331 Veranda Street, Martin's Point accepts all major health plans and insurance, including but not limited to HealthSource, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Harvard Community Health Plan, Maine Partners, Champus, Tricare, Aetna, Cigna and NYLCare Plans.

For more information, call Amy Weinschenk, director of marketing and communications at Martin's Point Health Care, at 774-5801, extension 2231. Or visit the Martin's Point website at www.martinspoint.org.
# # #