Woodland Family Practice Clinic Policy
As a patient in a group family practice, you are under the care of your primary family doctor and have access to see other available family doctors at the clinic in cases of emergency when your primary family doctor is unavailable.
We are a teaching facility associated with the UBC Faculty of Medicine and a trainee may assist your family doctor with your care.
At Woodland Family Practice, we aim to provide you with professional, comprehensive, compassionate, and patient-focused care.
We request you adhere to the following terms in order to help us provide you with quality and timely care:
Respectful Environment
Abusive or disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated and will result in discharge from the practice.
The Patient-Family Doctor Relationship
Communicate honestly and openly so that your family doctor can best address your needs. Whenever possible, seek your health care from your primary family doctor. If you visit an emergency facility or other health care provider, let them know the name of your family doctor so your doctor can provide appropriate follow up care. We request you be an active participant in your care and see your doctor at least once a year for a health review. If you have not seen your doctor in three years, your account will be inactivated.
Confidentiality
Your doctor has a duty of confidentiality to protect your privacy. This means that your doctor will not disclose health information with any individual or party outside of your circle of care, without your explicit expressed consent. The condition under which your doctor may break confidentiality is when you are at imminent risk of harm to yourself or others.
Appointment Duration
Routine appointments are 10 minutes long. This means that we may only have time to address one issue. Be prepared to book more than one appointment if you have multiple concerns so that your doctor can stay on schedule for the next patient.
Longer appointments of 20 minutes’ duration are offered for the following reasons:
mental health
injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident with an open ICBC claim
workplace related injuries with an active WorkSafeBC claim
completion of forms
Preparing For Your Visit
You will be asked for the reason for your visit so we can better prepare for it. For example, if you have a urinary concern, staff will request you provide a urine sample. If you are uncomfortable sharing the reason, that is okay.
Doctor Running Late
Expect that delays may occur. Be prepared to wait up to one hour for in-person appointment and up to two hours for a phone appointment. Your doctor may be managing a more complex patient, liaising with a specialist or allied health member, or managing an urgent medical matter.
Same Day Urgent “Fit-in” Visits
Fit-in visits are accommodated by your family doctor for urgent concerns. Please be mindful of this and respectful of other patients by using this service appropriately.
Missed Appointments
The clinic should be notified of cancellations one business day in advance or this constitutes a missed appointment. Our phone lines are open from 9:00am-4:45pm Monday to Friday except for statutory holidays. If an appointment is missed, a fee of $60 will be charged. If multiple appointments are missed, you may be discharged from the practice.
Late Arrivals
If you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, your doctor may not be able to see you and your appointment may need to be rescheduled. This may count as a missed appointment.
Phone Appointments/Telehealth
Your doctor will call the number provided within 2 hours of your scheduled appointment time. If your doctor cannot reach you, this is considered a missed appointment.
You are responsible for ensuring that you are in a place with adequate reception and in a safe and private place to take this call. Please do not drive while attending a virtual visit.
By booking a virtual care appointment, you are consenting to and acknowledging the limitations and risks of virtual care. You may be advised to come in for a physical exam. For medicolegal reasons, you must be in Canada at the time of your virtual appointment.
AI Scribe
Your doctor may use an AI Scribe during your medical visits. An AI Scribe is a software program that writes down what you talk about with your doctor. This saves your doctor time during or after your visit. The AI Scribe tool your doctor uses is fully compliant with Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA). The notes are kept private and then deleted after the doctor finishes documenting the encounter.
If you prefer that your doctor not use an AI scribe in your visit you will need to inform your doctor before your appointment.
E-mail
Woodland Family Practice will periodically email you information about general health measures and office updates. By providing an email address, you consent to receiving these updates. You may choose to unsubscribe. Your email address is confidential and will only be shared with your care providers.
After Hours Care
If you need care when the office is closed, try the following options:
In cases of emergency, please dial 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
For urgent medical concerns that cannot wait until regular business hours, you may speak with the doctor-on-call. Do not use this service to cancel or reschedule appointments. A $60 after hours access fee will be charged for any inappropriate use of this service.
For non-urgent matters, you may call our office the next business day to book an appointment.
Medication Renewals & Specialist Referrals
All prescription renewals and specialist referrals require an appointment. Please make an appointment 2-4 weeks before medications are finished or if you need a referral.
Services not covered by MSP
We will bill patients directly for services not covered by MSP. You can find a complete list of non-MSP insured services on our website www.woodlandfamilypractice.ca. They are subject to change as per Doctors of BC guidelines. Examples include:
Filling out forms; writing letters (fee is variable depending on length of form/letter)
Doctor’s notes i.e., for work or school absence, for purposes of claiming insurance such as note for massage therapy
Printing copies of results after review with doctor
Emailing records (In compliance to the Personal Health Information Act, Woodland Family Practice uses and pays for a secure patient portal called Ocean)
Transfer of records
Driver’s and employment physical examinations
Removal or treatment of skin lesions for cosmetic reasons (eg. adult hand warts)
The following services are not covered by MSP.
Complete physicals in a healthy individual (This is not supported by medical evidence and not MSP-covered. MSP covers focused exams and testing that is appropriate for your age and specific health conditions.)
Travel advice. MSP does not cover the visit or for administration of travel vaccines.
16. Follow-up on Results
It is your responsibility to book an appointment after any tests are done to review your results. Results cannot be given by the medical office assistant over the phone. Most blood work results usually take 1 week to return. Reports for imaging or biopsies take 2-4 weeks, and pap test results take 4-16 weeks.
17. One Family Doctor Visit Per Day
Please avoid seeing multiple family doctors in one day, whether it is in-person or via telehealth such as seeing your family doctor for a concern then attending a walk-in clinic later in the day. One of those doctors will not be paid by MSP.
18. Termination/Discharge
Family physicians provide care for patients who reside in their communities.
We reserve the right to terminate the patient-doctor relationship if:
You also see another long term family doctor in Greater Vancouver.
You regularly see another family doctor at walk-in clinics for new or old issues.
You have not had an appointment at Woodland Family Practice for over 3 years.
You have moved away from Greater Vancouver and cannot travel to Woodland Family Practice for an in-person assessment for an acute medical issue.
There is non-compliance to the terms of this patient contract