+ Office Hours

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Holiday Hours The clinic will be closed on the following days during the holidays:

• December 24th, 25th, 26th
• December 31st, January 1st, 2nd

Regular Hours

Our phones are answered Monday from 8:00am - 3:30pm and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 8:00am - 4:00pm and Friday from 8:00am - 12:00pm.

We are closed all statutory holidays and weekends.

Some practitioners extend their hours outside of these specified times. 

These hours are subject to change and are physician specific. The office staff will notify you accordingly.

Please note that our telephones are not answered on the weekend so if you are scheduled for a Saturday Clinic, please arrived at your scheduled time.

• Contact Us

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1280 Fairfield Rd. Victoria, BC V8V 4W3

Tel: 250 940 6010 Fax: 250 940 6011

+ REFERRAL INFORMATION

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A referral is required to access services at womenMD.

If you are interested in accessing multiple aspects of the womenMD clinic, please ask the referring practitioner to check off all correlating boxes on our referral form. As per the updated guidelines of BC Family Doctors, effective July 1, 2023, regarding the re-referral process and implicit referrals.

“The implicit re-referral allows the patient and consultant to schedule and conduct subsequent consultations at intervals of greater than six months for the same problem, on an going basis.

Please note, if you were previously referred to womenMD prior to July 1, 2023, you will require an updated referral to continue to access womenMD services.

+ Booking Appointments

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When booking appointments via telephone, please be as specific as possible regarding the nature of your medical issue. This enables the staff to schedule an appropriate amount of time to adequately address your issue. If the medical issue is of a ‘sensitive’ nature, rest assured that confidentiality will be maintained throughout the office as per strict office policy. Please note that no medical issues will be addressed over email.

Our office staff will exercise full discretion in this setting. It is also sufficient to indicate that your issue is ‘personal’ if booking an appointment at the front desk or if you feel uncomfortable divulging your concern.

As a courtesy to patients, our staff will typically set aside a few appointment slots daily for acute, non-routine issues. Our focus is to improve office access in order to reduce the need to visit walk-in clinics or urgent care centres. It is suggested that patients call earlier in the day to access these appointment times, as they can fill up rather quickly.

It is kindly asked that patients do not request these same-day appointments for prescription refills or other non-urgent issue. All prescription bottles indicate the number of remaining refills and hence some forward planning is requested.

Most of the time, the office is still able to accommodate same-week access for non-urgent medical concerns. While it is understood that some practices are extremely busy, it is not required to book an appointment months in advance.

There will be times in which a patient will require a last-minute appointment for acute minor concerns (ex. illness before travelling) on days that are fully booked. In the event we can fit you in for an appointment, we kindly request that you refrain from voicing other concerns as this significantly cripples the flow of the office.

+ Callbacks To Office

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Most patients are met with feelings of alarm and fear when called back to the doctor’s office. Please keep in mind that callbacks are quite common and the majority of office callbacks are for NOT for serious issues. A callback to office does not necessarily mean ‘cancer’ or some other life-threatening illness.

Family practices today generate a massive amount of test results such that it is not viable to address laboratory or imaging results via telephone. On occasion, a physician may call a patient directly to discuss results over the phone; this is done as a courtesy to patients and should not be the routine expectation.

Generally, if a laboratory result is concerning, you will be contacted and asked to come in. However, the general expectation would be for you to book an appointment to discuss the results following any test if you have concerns. Occasionally, patients can be called back for normal results, particularly in the setting of more advanced investigations such as CT scans or MRIs. This is to discuss potential future investigations and/or provide patients with some closure.

Please note it is strictly against office policy for office staff to divulge the specific nature of the callback over the phone. The office staff may indicate urgent or non-urgent and whether the abnormality pertains to lab testing or imaging.

+ Specialist Referrals

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A referral to a specialist must be initiated by a family physician. This is often facilitated through a physician-to-physician letter or referral form. Much of this inter-office communication is achieved through facsimile correspondence. It must be reinforced that unfortunately communication transmissions fail on occasion and it is generally recommended that patients make every effort to follow-up on referrals.

If you do not hear back regarding a referral within 3-4 months, please call the office back to determine your referral status. Lengthy wait times for a specialist consultation are expected. You may wait several months before being given an appointment time or confirmation of receipt of referral.

Family physicians are trained across a spectrum of disciplines and are generally capable of initially managing most medical conditions. Not every pimple requires a dermatologist, nor does every case of depression warrant a psychiatrist.

If a medical concern extends beyond the family physician’s scope, a referral will certainly be initiated. The decision to refer requires joint agreement between the patient and physician and not based simply based on a patient’s request.

Our specialist consultants carry a degree of expectation regarding appropriate diagnostic work-up prior to referral. As a courtesy to our consultants, this would require the patient to perform testing as a requisite to consultation. Some referral services will outright refuse consultation until strict referral criteria are met.

The chart review, letter preparation, and review of preliminary work-up take time, and for this reason we ask that patients do not request referrals at the end of a visit. We do not make these policies, nor do we have any control over them.

Lastly, a referral to a specialist is resource intensive, demanding valuable physician and staff time. Document your specialist appointment date and time, and set reminders accordingly. Physicians often write letters and initiate referrals for patient, only for the patient to forget about or change their mind about the appointment.

This is onerous on the physician and costly to the health care system; be certain about your decision to see a consultant. Some consultants charge a fee for missed appointments and failure to comply will deny all further specialist access.

Referrals are not required for private-pay medical services such as cosmetic medical treatments or private surgery. Referrals are not required for specialist follow-up within a specified period.

+ Office Wait Time

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It is uncommon to encounter wait-times greater than 45 minutes. On most days, one should expect a 15-20 minute wait-time. Going forward, we hope to continue to make it our priority to minimize unpleasant waiting.

With sincerity, we ask that patients attempt to understand that fully eliminating wait times is unrealistic. Hazardous weather can make patients late. Phone calls to and from specialist consultants are commonplace. Minor emergencies occasionally do happen. Some medical issues are simply more complicated than expected. Predicting what will happen on any given day is impossible, and this makes physicians run late.

For this we make a genuine apology. Our staff has been instructed to inform all patients regarding wait times in excess of 25-30 minutes upon checking in. If you are unable to keep your appointment due to this, we will be happy to reschedule you.

+ Student Learners

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Our associate physicians may occasionally be involved in clinical teaching activities involving resident physician and medical student learners. These teaching activities are a valued and necessary training component for future physicians. We appreciate your patience in allowing these learners to participate in your care.

Medical learners will have variable skill levels and expertise. Their level of participation in your care will remain in accordance with their level of training and they will not practice beyond the scope of their training. You will still be attended to by your physician when a learner evaluates you independently.

Staff will notify you on days when a learner is present. If it is your preference to not have a student involved in your care, please notify the staff. Lastly, please engage these learners respectfully.

+ Diagnostic Imaging

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There are several radiology providers in the Victoria region and it is our understanding that they all generally adhere to the same booking policies. A physician will typically supply the patient with a company-specific diagnostic image requisition based on their individual preferences. These company-specific requisitions are accepted by ANY radiology provider. If you choose another company based on convenience or past history, this is entirely acceptable. The booking number for each radiology provider can be found at the top of their respective requisition, and locations are on the back of each form.

X-ray imaging for patients are only accommodated on a walk-in basis. More advanced imaging modalities such as CT, MRI and Bone Density scans can only be booked by the medical office. After a request is submitted by fax. If you do not hear back regarding an appointment time after 2 weeks, please call the office back to determine your appointment status.

The expected wait time for routine MRI and CT scans is typically several months. Even ‘urgent’ requests can take weeks. We like to remind patients regarding the option for rapid access private (patient-pay) imaging. Some health-care insurance plans include health-spending accounts that can be used towards private imaging. For many, private imaging can offer a patient much needed peace of mind.

All radiology investigations typically take 1-3 days to be reported by a radiologist. The report generated is sent back to the family physician’s office.

+ Medical Forms

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Family Practice Patients Only

Please read through the following information in order to ensure accuracy in completion of your requested medical forms.

Please fill out two copies of the form: one completed with your information and another that is filled out as though you are the doctor (please ensure to fill out all applicable areas). This will provide more information for the doctor in regards to your individual situation and expectations (please note this is only used as a reference; we do not advise patients to fill out their own forms for submission). Form completion requires a chart review to ensure accuracy, even with simple forms.

After completing both copies of your form, please email your copies , alternatively you can drop your copies off at the clinic. Once the doctor has a chance to review your forms and your chart, we will contact you for an appointment. Be advised that forms can take upwards of 3-4 weeks for completion.

In most cases, the cost of completing third-party forms is not covered by the Medical Services plan and the patient is responsible for payment upon completion. Fee guidelines are set by BC Family Doctors for uninsured services.

+ Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

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The electronic medical record refers to medical documentation in an electronic format. The healthcare system, as with most systems, is shifting to a fully computerized format. Each office however operates independently of other offices and these records are not inter-connected. While one would hope for a fully-detailed, centralized cloud-based system accessible to all health care providers, the healthcare system is still a long way away from achieving this.

Please note that family physicians are not automatically alerted when new investigations are performed by an alternate physician. Thus, please inform your physician if you had medical imaging or lab testing at a visit to the emergency department or walk-in clinic.

+ Lab Testing

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Physician requested laboratory testing is performed off-site.

Most laboratory results are reported back to the physician within 24 – 48 hours. This however does not apply to all results. Microbiology, antibody testing, and pap smear results are examples of tests that can take days to weeks for a result.

+ Contact Information

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Make every attempt to ensure contact information is current. In the event of an abnormal lab result, it is crucial to have updated contact information on file in order to notify you. It is also useful to have contact information on file for next of kin.

+ Chart Transfer

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As per the Health Information Act, the office reserves the right to charge a fee for the production of patient charts. There is employee, material, and courier costs that factor into the preparation and transfer of the chart. This cost is common to all medical offices.

+ Locum Coverage

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Locum physicians are those who cover for other physicians when they are away. Locum physicians do not have their own practices and function specifically to relieve other physicians during their absence.

Patients are encouraged to book appointments with the locum physician, particularly for last minute or minor concerns. We understand that some medical concerns are challenging and carry a long history. Patients may find it tedious to retell their entire history and are reluctant to book with a locum physician. In these circumstances, waiting until your physician’s return is acceptable.

When patients choose not to see a locum physician, this creates a significant back-log on a physician’s demanding schedule. A locum physician can provide a fresh perspective on chronic issues. We make it a top priority to arrange locum coverage during extended physician absences.

+ Uninsured Services

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In accordance with the April 1, 2023 Doctors of BC Uninsured Service rates reflected in the BCMA fee guidelines. Please ask the the clinic receptionist for further details.