Clinic Policies
Results:
As we have no staff, doctors will review all their own results.
If your results are not normal, we will contact you for an appointment. We will not contact you if your results are normal.
Email and phone:
Your doctor may contact you by secure email through the patient portal or by phone. Please allow the doctors 2 business days to respond to your message.
Appointment length:
When booking online, you may have options for appointment length. There are different appointment lengths for each doctor.
During your appointment the doctor must document, perform an examination if indicated and complete paperwork. If this is not enough time, you will be asked to make a follow up appointment.
ONE APPOINTMENT, ONE PERSON.
Please avoid adding another family member’s concerns during your consultation. Each patient requires their own appointment.
Same day appointments:
Each day there will be a limited number of same day appointments for semi- urgent concerns. If there are no appointments available and yours is an urgent matter, it may be more appropriate to be seen elsewhere, such as the emergency department.
Timeliness:
Time is valuable and we endeavor to run on time. If a patient is more than 10 minutes late, the appointment is cancelled and a fee of $100 applies.
payment and uninsured services
Some services (for example driver’s medical) are not insured by the Alberta Government, therefore patients must pay directly.
Please see the uninsured services section of the website for the cost of commonly uninsured services as determined by the Alberta Medical Association.
Payment can be made by electronic money transfer, cash or credit card (user fee applies). Receipts will be provided.
missed appointments, late cancellations, and no shows
There are always patients seeking care. If you are unable to keep your booked appointment, we ask for at least 24 hours advance cancellation, so we can book someone in your place. If you do not cancel, this will be considered a no show and you will be billed $100. This will be paid at the following appointment.
scheduled absences/sick leave:
Cochrane Medical Clinic will always do its best to secure locum coverage in the event of a doctor being away, however this is not always possible given the shortage of family physicians in Alberta. In this case if you have a pressing medical concern, you should seek medical attention by going to a walk-in-clinic, the Cochrane Urgent Care Centre or the nearest emergency department.
All other concerns will be addressed by your physician once they are back in the office.
termination of patient – PHYSICIAN relationship:
We reserve the right to terminate the patient-physician relationship under the following circumstances:
- If we, or any person we work with, feels threatened in any way by a patient or his or her family.
- If a patient has 2 or more “no shows” to appointments.
- If a breach of trust has occurred.
- If a patient has not been seen for more than 18 months. Our goal is to prevent disease and maintain health, so we expect that patients will come in for regular screening and preventative health care at least once per year.