Chest & Heart’s online upgrade to help drive better medical outcomes

Monday 06 May 2024

Guernsey Chest & Heart has updated its online client portal.

The project will make it more secure and provide better health data to help improve medical outcomes in the Bailiwick.

The new release has been provided by local software company Cortex Technologies, which has developed and maintained the portal since 2019.

It includes general software maintenance and upgrades for security purposes, improved reporting and advanced privacy options for improved collaboration between the Medical Specialist Group and the hospital.

Chest & Heart's Centre Manager Caroline Ogier says: "We are delighted that Cortex has continued to support our charity. The client portal makes such a difference, not only to the clients undertaking screening for cardiovascular disease but also in supporting us with future research.

"By analysing the data we can better understand who is and who isn't coming for screening, such as people between 25 and 50, and consider how we reach the less represented groups in our community and those with reduced access to healthcare.

"We've updated the content to be more inclusive and have included questions which give us a better idea of how the client's lifestyle may impact their cardiovascular risk.

"Clients can keep their contact information up to date and will be automatically recalled for their next screening, so they don't need to worry about remembering when their appointment is coming up. Safety and security of their personal data is important, too, so we have introduced two-factor authentication."

Guernsey Chest & Heart LGB is a charitable organisation that relies on individual donations and corporate support to continue their free preventative health screenings for islanders.

Cortex Technologies' Software Developer and Co-Founder Marc Beavan says that they are proud as a business to continue to support it with their technical expertise.

"We've been involved with Chest & Heart for more than five years now and love what this invaluable community service is all about. Over the past couple of months, we've been upgrading the application by adding some bells and whistles to make it easier to use and bringing it right up to date on data security and privacy standards."

Open weekdays between 8:30 and 12:30, screenings are available to all islanders provided that they are not currently being treated for a heart or circulatory medical condition.

Clients are recalled for a follow-up screening every five years.

Appointments can be made by calling 01481 237261.

Clients can register on the new version of the portal by heading to https://portal.chestandheart.org.gg/ and clicking on register.