Online Prepaid Medical Service Launched

Health Link Jamaica, an online prepaid medical service, has become the latest innovation in local healthcare.
The first of its kind in Jamaica, the service, operated by Health Plus Associates, a Kingston-based medical centre, allows persons overseas to buy medical packages for their relatives in the island, via the Health Plus website@ www.healthplus.com.jm.
To receive care, beneficiaries will have to visit either the Health Plus office in Kingston or any of its affiliate physicians across the island.
At the launch of the facility at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on March 9, Dr. Orville Nembhard, Director of Health Plus Associates cited the changing world of medicine and the need to meet and move with these changing times, as a driving force behind the creation of Health Link Jamaica.
“Medicine and the practice of medicine are changing. “We have seen new diseases emerge, which threaten our existence, physically and economically and we have seen new technology, which affords us the powerful tools to preserve life,” Dr. Nembhard noted.
He further noted the worldwide trend of doctors being paid by health plans and medical groups to reply to patient queries through email, as additional reasons for Health Link to keep Jamaica competitive in the global marketplace.
Minister of Health, John Junor lauded the service and commended Health Plus for reaching out to Jamaicans abroad.
“Health link is an idea whose time has come, as we reach out to the Jamaican Diaspora across the globe and attempt to develop services to meet their needs. He also hinted at the possibility of the Ministry developing a similar website to increase access to its services.
“We may very well take a page out of your book to find creative solutions such as exploring the banking system and e-payment facilities, to increase the convenience for users of the public health services and to make the technology work for us,” the Health Minister stated.
He also commended Health Plus for its commitment, as expressed on the website, to provide assistance to persons who need to sign up for the National Health Fund (NHF).
Dr. Seni Ononuju, President of the Association of the General Practitioners, hailed the new international health link service as progressive and said that the facility would save time in treating patients and make doctors more accessible to each other.
Health Plus Associates is located in the Boulevard Super Centre and provides a wide range of services including screening for diabetes, hypertension and cancers; medical tests for driver’s licence and life insurance purposes, diagnostic services and immunization.
It has a comprehensive medical team comprised six family physicians, two obstetrician/gynaecologists, one menopause specialist, one dermatologist, one internist, two paediatricians, one general surgeon, one dietitian, one counselling psychologist and soon to be added, a surgical chiropodist.