Health Minister Jonathan Coleman is encouraging people to use a new online map to see whether their GP offers a patient portal.

Jonathan says a growing number of general practices are introducing patient portals. These secure online sites are the health equivalent to online banking.

'Portals enable patients to book appointments, order repeat prescriptions and view lab test results online.

'You can have secure conversations with your GP via email, and in some cases, patients can also view their notes online.

'Portals are convenient, secure and real time savers for both the patient and staff at their general practice.

'A new interactive map launched makes it easy for patients to check which general practices are offering portals.

'Patient portals are a great step towards enabling New Zealanders to manage more of their own healthcare.”

More than 330 general practices are now offering patient portals, with nearly 136,000 New Zealanders registered to use one.

Last year Jonathan approved a $3 million funding boost to give more New Zealanders access to patient portals, which included $500,000 for an awareness campaign.

The second phase of the awareness campaign runs to mid-June on print, radio and online.

The new map is on the patient portal website, www.patientportals.co.nz. You can search by either typing in the name of your general practice, or zoom into your region to see which practices have portals.