Virtual (Video) Appointments
As of December 1, 2022, the Ministry of Health implemented new rules for virtual care. As a result of these changes, we have had to change the way in which we offer virtual appointments to our patients. These are the conditions that must be met in order for a patient to have a virtual visit with the doctor:
1. A PATIENT MUST HAVE BEEN SEEN IN PERSON IN THE OFFICE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 24 MONTHS IN ORDER TO HAVE A VIRTUAL APPOINTMENT BOOKED. This is because the government is of the belief that comprehensive care cannot be provided to patients without at least periodically seeing them in person. The government will no longer pay doctors the regular visit fees for virtual appointments if the patient has not been seen at least once in person within the past 2 years.
2. ONLY VIDEO VIRTUAL VISITS WILL BE BOOKED. This is because the government is no longer giving full payment to doctors for telephone-based medical care, because it is believed that doctors cannot provide the same quality of care by telephone as they can with in-person or video face to face visits.
If both of the above requirements cannot be met, you will have to come into the office for appointments. We realize that this will be inconvenient for some people and we do wish we could run things differently, but unfortunately we are unable to change the rules that the Ministry of Health has created.
My Health Access for Video Appointments
All of our virtual appointments will be done via video chat on My Health Access, and more information about this can be found on the Online Booking page.
To view appointments or to join your scheduled video appointment:
1. For computers: Go to your web browser and go to https://www.myhealthaccess.ca/patient/#/login
For tablets and smartphones: open the My Health Access app on your smartphone or tablet.
DO NOT USE THE BROWSER VERSION ON YOUR TABLET OR SMARTPHONE - it will not synch properly with our system and the doctor will not be able to start a videochat with you.
DO NOT USE THE EMAIL LINK TO ACCESS YOUR APPOINTMENT, as it will launch the browser version that will not work properly as just stated above.
2. Log in with the appropriate email address (the email address for the person needing the appointment)
3. Click on "My Appointments".
4. You will see your list of past and upcoming appointments with your doctor. You will see an icon of a video camera next to all appointments that are scheduled as video appointments.
5. For video appointments, we request that about 5-10 minutes before your appointment is scheduled to start that you click on the button of the actual appointment, to load the appointment details.
6. Click on "Start your Telehealth Appointment" to enter the virtual waiting room and wait for the doctor to start the video chat. Please be patient and remember that it may take up to 15-30 minutes for the doctor to be ready to start the appointment.
Other Notes about Video Appointments:
Although it should be self-explanatory, you can only participate in video chat appointments if you have a front facing camera or webcam AND microphone and speakers on your device. You can use any device (computer, tablet, smartphone) as long it has these video and sound capabilities. If you do not have a device that meets these criteria then you must come in to the office for all appointments.
Please also remember to grant My Health Access permission to use the camera and microphone on your device - the doctors have encountered some video appointments where the patient did not have these functions authorized (it seems to be more frequently encountered with headphone use), and so the doctor was not able to see and/or hear them until the problem was fixed (which is an unnecessary waste of the doctor's time).
If your doctor sends you any files (eg notes, reports, requisitions) within the chat during your video call, you should save them onto your computer/phone/tablet immediately. As soon as the call ends you won't be able to access the chat or any of the files attached to it.
Finally, video appointments are treated just like any other appointments, and if you are not in the virtual waiting room at the time of your appointment you will be marked as absent for the appointment, and you will be charged the $45 missed appointment fee. **If you have a longer appointment (ie 15-20 minute) there could be a fee of up to $90 for missing your appointment.