Introducing PomeloTime
PomeloTime is an online application that does one thing: Allow scheduled access to secure messages on Pomelo by Telus Health.
I am a physician and a Telus PS EMR user. My wife and I adopted the EMR in 1998, when it was still MacMedical. Twenty years later, in 2018, my clinic adopted Pomelo (then known as Healthmyself). I was impressed with Pomelo's EMR integration and its ability to allow patient appointment booking, clinic broadcasts and secure messaging. Sadly, I became frustrated with 24-hour patient access to online messaging!
For Telus PS, Pomelo was a revolution in office communication. Because of this system, we were able to scale back our costly phone system and gain the benefit of reduced receptionist-led bookings. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that patients, when given access to 24-hour messaging, take advantage of 24-hour messaging. We began receiving messages at all hours, often for minor issues that would correct themselves if just left a little longer. Our staff became disillusioned by overflowing message inboxes at the start of a long day. Mondays were particularly harrowing after receiving a full weekend of messages. Broadcasting an 'email etiquette' guide did not seem to impact the volume. The question became: "If we can program our phone system schedule, why can't we program our Pomelo secure messaging schedule?"
I reached out to Pomelo about this idea. They were not interested in adding the feature, but appreciated my input.
As a result... PomeloTime was born.
I've been using versions of PomeloTime now since early 2022. The program has allowed me to 'open' Pomelo messaging on a set office daily schedule, extend messaging for after-hours clinics and 'close' messaging on Stat days and other holidays. It's quite similar to how I program my office's VOIP phone system. PomeloTime has reduced my receptionist workload immensely and has pushed more patients to use Pomelo's online appointment booking. My staff no longer dreads Mondays and patients now understand that it's inappropriate to send a message about minor ailments at 0300h.
PomeloTime is easy to use and works well. I'm sure that your staff will learn to love this app as much as mine have.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jason Baker MD
