OCEAN Information
In an effort to support timely communication of information and results, the health care providers at Harbourview Family Health Team have started using Ocean secure messaging to communicate with patients.
You may receive emails from Ocean at OceanMD on behalf of one of the health care providers/doctors at Harbourview. As well as appointment reminders.
Why did I receive an email from Ocean?
If your healthcare provider wants to use Ocean to communicate with you, they will need to collect your email address and obtain email consent before sending any messages. If you provide email consent, you may receive an email from Ocean at OceanMD on behalf of your healthcare provider for the following reasons:
• To confirm and remind you of an upcoming appointment.
• To ask you to complete forms before or after an appointment
• To share test results or other information regarding your health
• To provide information about a secure electronic referral for specialist services
If you no longer want to receive these types of emails, please contact your healthcare provider directly as they manage their own email consent.
How can I be sure this message is from Ocean or my healthcare provider?
Depending on your healthcare provider’s settings, messages may be delivered from their clinic email address or “no-reply@oceanmd.com.” The contents of the message can vary from provider to provider, but for the most part they will look the same.
As an additional security measure after you click on the link, look for a “lock” symbol in your web address bar. This means the site is safe and there is a private connection. These security settings can vary depending on the browser you use so it’s always a good idea to understand how your browser identifies safe and unsafe websites. Click here to view our privacy policy.
Can OceanMD access or sell my personal health information?
No. As noted above, OceanMD is committed to keeping patient data secure using the most stringent approaches to data security and privacy. Furthermore, since all data is fully encrypted, OceanMD cannot access personal health information in a readable format. In this encrypted state, data is meaningless and cannot be commoditized or sold to a third party, including the parent company of OceanMD, WELL Health Inc.
Why are you asking for my Health Card number?
Traditional email communication comes with a lot of privacy risks – emails and their contents can easily be forwarded without your knowledge, messages may be sent to the wrong address, and more. To combat some of these risks, we ask you to confirm your identity through a quick validation process to make sure you are the correct and intended recipient. By default, we will always ask for your health card number as it is a specific identifier to you. We then use that health card number to check against your patient record to ensure there is a match. Only then will you be able to see the contents of the message.
In some cases, your health care provider might ask for more information as an additional security measure. This can include your health number, your patient record number, or a pre-determined access word that you and your provider agreed upon. Ocean does not collect or save your PHI for validation checks.
Why can’t I respond to my doctor’s message?
Depending on the circumstances Ocean Platform allows patients to respond to a secure message and/or send photos and documents. These features are optional and fully controlled by your healthcare provider to meet the needs of their workflow.
For more information see: https://www.oceanmd.com/patients-guide-to-ocean/