SSI Health Center Policies
If you have an urgent concern please identify the issue as urgent when you book your appointment. In the case of an urgent need, we offer a choice between your physician or any physician to help ensure you are seen as quickly as possible.
Appointments & Cancellations
All appointments require 24 hours notification to cancel. If you do not provide adequate notice you may be charged $50 for a short appointment and $100 for a longer appointment (like a physical, counselling or a drivers medical for example).
Annual Physical Exams
Periodic health examinations are not covered under the Medical Services Plan unless you are under 5 years old, over 55 years old or unless you have a chronic health condition. These exams must be booked in advance as this visit requires a longer appointment than most visits and we accept these appointments only by telephone.
Uninsured Services
Some medical office services, called uninsured services, are not covered by the Medical Services Plan of BC and must be paid for directly by the patient, regardless of whether they have BC Health insurance or not. These fees may be covered under a patient’s private health insurance and the patient may be reimbursed for fees paid to the clinic. Please check with your own insurance carrier. The fees charged by the clinic for uninsured services are in compliance with the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) guidelines, which are updated on an annual basis and a copy of our current uninsured fee schedule is available at our front desk.
Prescribing Policies
Some medications, such as opioids (“narcotics”) require special prescribing rules. This is for your safety as these rules help you to minimize the risks of overuse, potential for side effects and ensure proper use.
We do not prescribe controlled substances to patients who are not known to our clinic. We do not provide refills at times earlier that those decided at the last visit. As per provincial rules, we ask that all patients receiving these medications receive prescriptions from one doctor and fill those prescriptions at one pharmacy. Any irregularities may lead to the end of the prescription. Patients who are prescribed controlled substances must provide consent for the physician to access their Pharmanet profile to help ensure safety.
Interacting Respectfully
Our Medical Office Assistants and support staff are carefully selected and trained to help patients. They make every effort to make your visit as pleasant and comfortable as possible and in return, we ask that your behavior is respectful of our staff. There is a zero tolerance for abuse of any kind and abusive behaviour may lead to dismissal from the practice.
If you have any problems associated with your visit, please contact our Medical Director, Dr. Manya Sadouski, in writing.
To provide you with the best possible care, a satisfactory doctor-patient relationship is essential. If for any reason, this relationship becomes compromised, then it may be best for both parties to end the relationship. If this occurs then we will provide emergency medical care for one month or until the patient finds a new family doctor, whichever comes first.