Phase one of the National Abortion Telehealth Service is live with the launch of www.DECIDE.org.nz and 0800 DECIDE.

The Telehealth Service is a joint venture between Family Planning and Magma Healthcare, funded by the Ministry of Health. Delivery of the website and the 0800 number are the responsibility of Family Planning.

“The website brings together information about abortion providers, abortion services, and abortion care and puts it in one place in an easily accessible format,” Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond says.

“Callers to the 0800 number can be connected directly with their local provider or can talk with one of our nurses about their pregnancy options. We tested our assumptions about how clients want to communicate with a range of people as this first phase was being developed and with a package of options including the website, phone calls, web chat and after hours chat bot, we think there will be an option that will suit most people.”

Ms Edmond says the DECIDE service will be built in phases. Phase 2 goes live in July and will offer the current services, plus abortion-related counselling and follow-up information, and clinical support for people who’ve had an early medical abortion (EMA). Phase 3 builds further to offer telemedicine consultation for EMA, referrals for pre-abortion clinical tests, and provision of medication for EMA. Phase 3 is due to go live in November this year.

www.DECIDE.org.nz 

0800 DECIDE (0800 332 433)