Office Policies

Updated: April 14th, 2025

No Tolerance Policy

We are committed to providing a safe, secure and respectful environment for all patients and staff. Words or actions that make others feel threatened will not be tolerated. Our practice considers the use of inappropriate words or actions as disruptive behavior. Inappropriate Actions Violence (exercise or attempt of physical force) Intimidation Throwing or damaging property or breaking things. Inappropriate Words (in person, by phone or any other means of communication): Abusive language. Disrespectful, demeaning or abusive language/comments. Remarks, jokes or innuendos that demean, ridicule or offend Discriminatory remarks. Threats or threatening behaviour. or bullying. All phone calls are monitored. Any use of the above incidents described will be reported to your doctor and management and WILL result in dismissal from our practice.

1. Appointments - A valid health card must be presented at every visit. If you do not have a valid health card, you will be billed for your appointment at the rates recommended for uninsured services by the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). It is your responsibility to ensure that your health card is valid prior to coming to your appointment. As a patient of our practice, you are expected to AVOID walk-in clinics and outside physician consultations. Patients who attend outside walk-in clinics will be de-rostered from the practice if not approved by our practice prior. As such, our practice offers urgent same day appointments per our office hours including after-hours services to cover all your urgent health care needs. If you have an urgent health problem during regular weekday office hours, please call our office and we will do our best to find you an urgent appointment. If you have an urgent health problem outside of regular offices hours, please visit: https://www.urgentcareontario.ca/ or call THAS (Telephone Health Advisor Service) 1-866-797-0000. or call 911.

2. CANCELLATION OF APPOINTMENTS - If you need to cancel your appointment, please call the office at least 24 hours in advance. Appointments which are cancelled WITHOUT 24 HOURS notification or appointments missed without notice will be charged a fee to you per OMA (Ontario Medical Associations) guidelines.

3. LATE ARRIVAL FOR IN PERSON APPOINTMENTS - We will try our best to ensure the office runs efficiently and stays on schedule as much as possible. You can help us by arriving on time for your appointment. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, your appointment will be considered "missed" and you will be asked to reschedule for another time unless prior arrangements are discussed. Please ensure adequate commute time to your appointments taking into consideration traffic conditions, road conditions, construction etc... If you believe you will be late, please contact our office and we will try our best to accommodate your late appointment.

4. WAITING IN THE OFFICE - We may need to address unexpected emergencies or may require more time with a patient than initially expected. This may result in the clinician running behind schedule on certain days. We appreciate your patience in these situations. In order to reduce waiting time, patients can help remedy this situation by indicating to the receptionist exactly what medical problem will be dealt with at that appointment. This will allow us to better set an appropriate length of appointment time.

5. MEDICATIONS AND PRESCRIPTION REFILLS - Please call your pharmacy and request that they fax the office (office fax number is 1-226-330-0440) your renewal request. Please request your medication renewals at least 2 weeks prior to the due date. Please ensure you have enough medication for at least 2 weeks prior to refill requests. Please note that you may need an appointment before prescribing the medication. We ask that you please bring a list of your medications to every appointment for your physician to review.

6. MEDICAL ADVICE BY PHONE / EMAIL - All consultation requests must be completed with an appointment, if it is required or urgent, your clinician will call you to discuss medical matters, but please understand that your clinician is preoccupied with patient care during the day, so any calls must adhere to your physician's schedule. Please note that medical advice by phone is a service NOT covered by OHIP, so be aware that a fee starting at $25.00 may be assessed. Please request a call back if you would like to speak to your clinician and we will try our best to accommodate your request as a registered appointment. EMAILS REGARDING MEDICAL CONCERNS WILL BE DISMISSED. YOU MUST SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT to discuss any medical matters or concerns.

7. RESULTS OF TESTS - Any test results (i.e., lab work, X-rays, etc.) are not given over the phone, unless in exceptional circumstances, receptionists do not provide results over the phone. Follow up appointments should be made to review and discuss any investigations or results with your clinician.

8. SCHEDULED APPOINTMENTS - Regular appointments are scheduled for 10-15 minutes and physicals for 20-30 minutes. Given the time for regular appointments, it is best to bring only one or two concerns per visit. This ensures that the physician can appropriately deal with the concerns in a safe and comprehensive manner. Any other important concerns that you may have should be dealt with at separate appointments. If you have made an appointment for yourself, it is for yourself only. Please call ahead if you would like a family member to be seen, (i.e., children) on that day and we will try to accommodate you. It is best to try and book separate appointments for you, your children, and any other family members.

9. PHYSICAL EXAMS - (OR PERIODIC HEALTH EXAM) - We recommend adult physicals be done every 18 months to 2 years. Physical exams do not need to be done annually unless discussed with your clinician. The adult physical appointment covers a wide range of health and screening topics, and therefore any separate issues or additional concerns that arise at the physical may need to be dealt with at a separate appointment.

10. FORMS - All forms must be discussed with the clinician prior to being completed. Do NOT drop off any forms at the office for your doctor to complete without an appointment - you must make an appointment to review your forms with your doctor. The completion of many government and insurance forms are considered uninsured services (i.e., these services are not covered by OHIP), and you will be billed an appropriate fee for form completion (approximately $30 per page). Please ensure you discuss this fee with your doctor. Many forms may take up to four weeks for completion; certain letters depending on their complexity may take longer. PLEASE PLAN AHEAD WITH REGARDS TO FORM COMPLETION TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE TIMING AND DEADLINES. The focus of our practice is offering treatment to you; we do not provide medico-legal reports, except for a requested report to you or your authorized representative outlining your examination and treatment. All such reports will be completed based upon your physician's held views and observations and you will be responsible for a reasonable charge per OMA guidelines, which will be discussed with you or your representative in advance per OMA guidelines.

11. PASSPORTS - We suggest that you contact another official (i.e., dentist, lawyer, bank manager, engineer, clergyman) to sign these due to the limited time the physicians have in their busy schedules. If you still wish the physician to sign these, please remember they will need to have known you for at least two years. Please allow a minimum of 6 weeks.

12. UNINSURED SERVICES - OHIP does not reimburse all the services that you may request from your family doctor, such as insurance form completion and Ministry of Transportation physicals, private medical notes etc... A list of uninsured services In Ontario is available at the office, along with our fees for these services. Our fees for uninsured services are based on the provincial guidelines established by the Ontario Medical Association.

13. HARASSMENT - There will be zero tolerance for any form of harassment and/or abusive behavior towards front desk staff, nurses, and physicians at our office. This includes verbal, physical, or any comments that are inappropriate as deemed by our staff. Moreover, disruption of the office/practice working environment through excessive calling or inappropriate requests beyond our control as well as any inappropriate or abusive communications via email or telephone will result in immediate de-rostering, termination and discharging of the patient from our medical practice.

Our staff are reminded that whilst de-escalation techniques are encouraged when faced with patients undergoing challenging circumstances, they are not obliged to offer any warning or explanation prior to ending a call/encounter in the face of abusive or inappropriate behaviour from a patient.

14. NARCOTICS, STIMULANTS, BENZODIAZEPINES, CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES - Given the risk of harm with these medications, we restrict prescribing them unless deemed necessary safe and life-saving. If you are on these medications and we proceed to prescribe them for you, you will be required to sign a controlled-substances agreement, be subject to random urine drug screening and the medications will be dispensed in small batches for easy monitoring. All renewals of controlled substances will be done by appointment ONLY (requests will not be renewed by fax and any requests from the pharmacy will be refused). Any breach to the Narcotics Agreement could result in dismissal from the practice and will result in discontinuation of further prescription renewals.

15. VIRTUAL CARE – We may provide services virtually, using a web-based platform or telephone encounters. There are no guarantees that this virtual service will be uninterrupted, secure or error-free. E-mail and voice messaging is vulnerable to cyber risks and this form of communication may be compromised. Messages coming to or sent from the practice are sent across the internet or by telephone with potentially uncontrolled access. These messages could be intercepted and read/heard. Therefore, you acknowledge the risks of utilizing this method of communication.

16. TRAVEL, VACATION or RELOCATION - In the event of travel, we will accommodate your medical needs provided that you are in the province of Ontario. If you travel outside of Ontario, we are unable to address your medical needs as you have to be seen by a health care provider in the province or territory where you are currently travelling. If you relocate to another city in Ontario, we will continue to care for your medical needs but strongly encourage you to find a new health care provider in your local community as in person visits are essential to provide adequate medical care.

17. DATA COLLECTION - By providing our practice with your personal information such as demographics, health card information, email address etc... you consent to the use of such information to provide you with medical care, process referrals and allow for collaboration with other healthcare providers, organizations such as pharmacies, hospitals etc...Moreover, you acknowledge that you have read and fully understand the risks, limitations, conditions of use of the provided information. You understand and accept the risks associated with the use of email and other communication tools when interacting with the clinician and the clinic's staff. You acknowledge and understand that despite recommendations that encryption software be used as a security mechanism for virtual care tools, it is possible that interacting with the clinician or the clinic's staff using phone, email or any other communication method may not be encrypted. Despite this, You agree to interact with the clinician or the clinic's staff using these options with a full understanding of the risk. If you have any questions on data collection policies, please speak to your clinician at the time of your appointment

18. ABSENCE FROM OUR PRACTICE - We require scheduling at least one in-person visit with our practice every eighteen months to ensure continuity of care. You risk being automatically derostered/discharged from our practice if a longer period has lapsed since the last visit.