1. Verbal aggression/disrespect will not be tolerated towards the Doctor/Receptionist - a patient may be discharged automatically (with no further warning) for this type of behavior. 

2. The clinic marks a patient as a NO SHOW if they are 15 minutes late or more.  (UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 3 WARNINGS VERBAL AND/OR WRITTENT before discharge is considered)

3. The clinic marks a patient as a NO SHOW if they do not pick up the phone at their phone appointment. (UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 3 WARNINGS VERBAL AND/OR WRITTENT before discharge is considered)

4. Please note that patients should be near their phone for a phone appointment, 1 hour before and 1 hour after the appointment time. This is because Dr. Aftab may call any time within that time range. For example, if your phone appointment is at 10am, you should be near your phone and able top pick it up between 9am and 11am.  Unfortunately, due to the constraints on the healthcare system and especially Family Physicians, Dr. Aftab may occasionally be late for your phone and/or in clinic appointment. 

5. When a patient has 3 NO SHOW appointments total (phone or in clinic), unfortunately the patient will be discharged from Juniper Family Practice. 
 

6. DO NOT CALL THE CLINIC MORE THAN ONE TIME within the SAME DAY/24 HOURS, we have caller ID, have received your phone call as a missed call, and we will phone you back for the missed call. We phone ALL missed calls back in a timely manner generally within 24 hours. (The only exception to this may be if the patient is calling us back if they missed our call, however, if you have called the clinic you should be at your phone to pick up our call to prevent phone tag, here is an example of this scenario a) patient calls and the clinic is not able to pick up b) the clinic calls the patient back, the patient does not pick up b) the patient may call the clinic back ONCE ONLY, do not call us more than once even if you received a missed call from us).

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7. DO NOT CALL THE CLINIC AFTER HOURS/WEEKENDS/STAT HOLIDAYS 
The clinic phone hours and receptionist hours are stated VERY CLEARLY on 1) Our website 2) Our email signature 3) All mass clinic-wide emails 4) Our phone automated system. It is not clear why a patient would call  the Clinic when the phone lines are turned off 1) The clinic is closed 2) There is no receptionist 3) There is no doctor. *PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BE CORTEOUS, and check the clinic website for phone hours, BEFORE making the phone call to Juniper Family Practice.
 

8. DO NOT CALL THE CLINIC ABOUT ANY PATIENT ABOVE THE AGE OF 18 THAT IS NOT YOURSELF
Please note that any adult age 18 and above is medically legally protected by confidentiality of their medical care. If any adult age 18 and above wants/needs another adult to discuss their medical care with Dr. Aftab, the patient MUST BE PRESENT during any phone call interaction/appointment and any in office interaction/appointment - this includes with talking with the Receptionist,  this includes for translation purposes, this includes family members trying to speak for a family member who is age 18 and above

 

9. PROPER USE OF CLINIC EMAIL ADDRESS
Please note that the clinic email address is for extenuating circumstances only, primarily only for

1) sending photos (no sensitive body areas please)
2) sending documents/forms 
- Please note that Gmail is not confidential and when patients choose to send the photos/documents/forms (or other content), it is their responsibility knowing that their medical information is being sent through a non-confidential platform
- The clinic only sends any/all outgoing communication/documents via Pomelo Patient Portal, as this is a confidential platform
- DO NOT ever email anything of an URGENT nature to the clinic email address
- The Clinic Email Address  is NOT to be used for enquiring about other matters/booking appointments, as it increases the administrative burden of the clinic/receptionist (a patient sending an email results in about 5-10 administrative steps to process the email content properly just as an FYI). In the future, to ask questions/clarifications/book appointments please directly call the Clinic and leave a message with the Receptionist OR more simply book a phone appointment online to speak directly with Dr. Aftab

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10. PRESCRIPTIONS

(**This is not part of the clinic 5 warning system, however Dr. Aftab may provide a warning(s) for disruptive patients on a case-by-case basis, and up to a total of 5 maximum warnings for disruptions to the clinic for any clinic policies that are not being followed, related to Prescriptions as below)

-        For prescription refills/renewals, ALL patients MUST make a phone/in office appointment to discuss the medication refill – medications are not renewed automatically even if a faxed renewal request has been faxed to the clinic by the patient’s pharmacy

-        It is the responsibility of the patient to know when their medications are due for a refill/renewal

-        It is advised that patients leave AT LEAST 2 WEEKS before prescription refills are due, and not leave it to the last minute

-        Refill requests shorter than 2 WEEKS will not be accommodated and the patient is responsible for delay in prescriptions if this happens

-        Please note that most pharmacies will provide an emergency 30 day prescription renewal - it is best to check with your pharmacy in advance to see if they provide this service or not

-        Once/when prescriptions have been faxed by the clinic it is then the patient’s responsibility to TALK TO THEIR PHARMACY about the prescriptions

-        DO NOT CALL THE CLINIC 

-        This clinic DOES NOT PROVIDE STATUS UPDATES on prescriptions being faxed (so there is no point to call us as it increases our administrative burden)

-        IF patients feel a prescription(s) was missed or was not received by pharmacy the NEXT STEPS are as follows:

o   1. Call your pharmacy

o   2. Tell them the prescription(s) that you feel is/are missing and/or that you were expecting – if you don’t remember the name of the medicine, tell the pharmacist what medical condition it was for

o   3. Ask your pharmacy to FAX the medication request DIRECTLY to the clinic

o   4. Once received, Dr. Aftab will deal with the medication request accordingly

 

o   5. **ALTERNATIVELY, if a patient feels their prescription is missing/was not sent they can make a phone appointment (online) to discuss with Dr. Aftab directly

-        It is the responsibility of the patient to CALL THEIR PHARMACY and double check that ALL the prescription(s) that a patient was expecting HAVE BEEN RECEIVED and are ready to be picked up, BEFORE a patient goes to their pharmacy

-        Please note, some prescriptions may take longer than others to prescribe and send to the pharmacy, as it may take longer for the doctor to choose the correct medicine, decide on dosing and frequency, check for drug allergies etc and there are more logistical steps involved – for example a renewal of an existing prescription may take a shorter amount of time than a new prescription for a new medical condition, or even changing the dose/frequency of an existing prescription - please be patient and respectful/mindful of this

-        E-FAX: please note that E-faxed (electronically faxed) prescriptions may take anywhere between 24-72 hours (or longer) to leave the clinic and reach your pharmacy as there are several logistical steps involved not only at the clinic but also on the receiving side of the pharmacy, in addition there is a reliance on technology working correctly and efficiently which is out of our control

-        Ensure you allow for AT LEAST 24-72(or longer) hours between your medical appointment and calling the pharmacy to enquire about whether your prescriptions are ready to pick up at the pharmacy

-        For quickest access to prescriptions, it is best to ask for a hard copy at your in-office appointment or pre-arrange a date/time to pick up the hard copy prescription, and then take the prescription to the pharmacy of your choice yourself

-        All patients should ensure that their correct preferred pharmacy has been added to their medical chart at Juniper Family Practice, before asking for a prescription to be E-faxed, as this will cause delay in your prescription if no pharmacy is on your medical chart

 

11. BLOOD TEST REQUISITIONS

(**This is not part of the clinic 5 warning system, however Dr. Aftab may provide a warning(s for disruptive patients on a case-by-case basis, and up to a total of 5 maximum warnings for disruptions to the clinic for any clinic policies that are not being followed, related to Blood Test Requisitions/Results as below)

 

JUNIPER FAMILY PRACTICE DOES NOT EMAIL BLOOD TEST REQUISITIONS TO PATIENTS/NOR SEND VIA PATIENT PORTAL (rare exceptions may be made by Dr. Aftab)

**Please do not request this, as the answer will be NO - our EMR and patient portal are not automatically connected to allow for this process, therefore we have to manually download each requisition and upload each requisition to then send it to patients, we cannot logistically be doing this hundreds of times per week/month, therefore it has been taken out of this clinic as an option altogether 

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Here are the steps that are taken when Blood Test Lab Requisitions are issued by Juniper Family Practice/Dr. Aftab

 

1) Dr. Aftab will fax the lifelabs requisitions DIRECTLY to lifelabs central intake (lifelabs central intake is the centralized facility that will distribute the requisition to all lifelabs)

2) the lifelabs requisition will be available at ALL/ANY lifelabs location in British Columbia

3) please wait AT LEAST 5 DAYS for lab requisitions to reach lifelabs

5) pls CALL THE LIFELABS LOCATION that you would like to go to and ensure that they have received the lab requisition BEFORE you go to the lab

6) DO NOT SHOW UP AT LIFELABS without checking the status of your lab requisition - then call the clinic and tell us that the requisition has not been received while you are waiting at lifelabs expecting the lab req to be sent within a few minutes, ON THE SPOT/LAST MINUTE DEMANDS WILL NOT BE ACCOMMODATED by this clinic - please be courteous and follow the steps above to ensure this does not happen

6) It is up to the patient to decide whether they want to go to lifelabs as a walk in vs book an appointment in advance, we do not advise on this

7) Dr. Aftab will generally tell patients if the lab is fasting or non fasting, if you are not sure please ask Dr. Aftab at the appointment, if you did not ask this/it was not discussed/you forgot what was said - please DO NOT CALL THE CLINIC - call lifelabs directly and ask them whether your blood test is fasting or not

 

Blood test Results

1) please allow for AT LEAST 7 DAYS (of note, it may sometimes also take longer than this) for lifelabs to process and release the result(s) and for the results to not only be received by the clinic but also process/reviewed

2) DO NOT call about status updates of a blood test being received or ask the Receptionist about type of blood test results as they are not medically trained and will not provide you any information about your question(s)

3) DO NOT book an appointment yourself after you have completed your blood test - it is best to WAIT FOR THE CLINIC/DR. AFTAB TO INITIATE THE APPOINTMENT as it means the blood test results have logistically been sent by lifelabs, received by the clinic, reviewed by Dr. Aftab and the Receptionist has had a chance to call you to make the appointment  - please appreciate and respect the logistical work that occurs in the background to ensure patient safety

• Patients who are impatient and book the follow up results appointment prematurely by themselves have several negative impacts on the clinic and other patients

• 1) they are increasing administrative burden on the clinic 

• 2) they are taking up an appointment slot when results have not been received/process and will not be discussed at the appointment and therefore taking that appointment slot away from a truly sick patient

4) DO NOT read your results out loud verbally to Dr. Aftab during an appointment, while results may be published online/on patient health portal, please take note of a few things

1. The results may still have not been received by the clinic/logistically and/or not be ready at the clinic to be reviewed with the patient

2. Dr. Aftab (nor any other Doctor) cannot rely on the verbal report of a patient for results, Doctors must have all results/medical information in writing in order to take action for the next steps

5) Remember no news is good news as the saying goes in healthcare, if you have not heard anything from the clinic generally it means the results may have been normal and have been filed away

6) If it has been AT LEAST 2 WEEKS AFTER your blood test, and you have not heard anything from the clinic, you may initiate the appointment yourself if you want to discuss/review the results

 

Going to other labs

• Please note that Juniper Family Practice only has the requisition for Lifelabs and only faxes directly to Lifelabs (all other labs should be able to use this requisition)

• If a patient chooses/plans on going to any other lab facility 

  • 1) the clinic WILL NOT fax the blood test requisition to any other lab facility in the province

  • 2)It is the patient’s responsibility to pre arrange a date/time to pick up the hard copy lab requisition

  • 3) Alternatively the patient can make an in office appointment with Dr. Aftab and take the hard copy lab requisition with them afterwards

12. Please note, in consideration of other patients, and as per the clinic policies discussed at each Meet and Greet appointment, please limit your visit to NO MORE THAN 1-2 medical concerns. 

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13. Please note that all appointments are booked based on availability, if there is no available appointment on the date/time that you would like one, then you have the option to choose what is available or go to a walk-in clinic/call 811/go to urgent care/ go to ER depending on the nature of your medical concerns.

14. Please note that SAME DAY IN CLINIC appointments are NOT available at Juniper Family Practice, exceptions may be made on a case by case individual basis – if this is not available, you should go to a walk in clinic/call 811/go to urgent care/ go to ER depending on the nature of your medical concerns.

15. SAME DAY PHONE appointments can be made if there is an available appointment slot.

16. Medical Records/Chart transfers OUT OF THE CLINIC can only be completed when the below 2 requirements are met.

a) Juniper Family Practice has received a Medical Transfer of Records Consent form signed by the patient and faxed to us by the new Family Doctor/Clinic.

b) The patient has paid $50 per medical chart that has been requested to be transferred, to Juniper Family Practice.
 

17. All new patients must attend a Meet and Greet appointment in office, including children. 

18.  Medical Records/Chart transfers INTO THE CLINIC
a) The patient(s) has signed and completed the Medical Transfer of Records Consent form so that we can fax it to the previous Family Doctor/Clinic
b) Please note that we can only receive medical charts/records by fax or paper hard copy, not USB or CD because they can introduce viruses into our software (please note fax is the most preferred method of chart transfer) 
 

19. Please note ALL patients must be registered on Pomelo Patient Portal, this is a mandatory requirement for all patients, as this is method of communication used by the Clinic for confidentiality.

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CLINIC POLICY WARNING SYSTEM

UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 5 WARNINGS (verbal or written)  will be provided for not following any/all Clinic Policies, and please note that Dr. Aftab is not obligated to provide all 5 total warnings, and may provide fewer depending on the nature of the disruption. If a patient has reached UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 5 WARNINGS (or less depending on nature of disruption), Juniper Family Practice/Dr. Aftab may consider discharging  a patient from the Clinic, who are not following clinic policy/policies thereby causing disruption to Juniper Family Practice, and ultimately causing negative impacts to the medical care of other clinic patients.

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There are 2 Clinic Policies that are UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 3 WARNINGS (separate from the above 5 warning system)

1) No Show Policy (patients are only allowed up to a maximum of 3 no shows before discharge may be considered) - can be verbal/and or written

2) Late Policy (patients are only allowed up to a maximum of 3 late appointments before discharge may be considered) - can be verbal and/or written

3) Please note that the no show and late policy are independent of each other - no show x 3 total, late x 3 total

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*Please note all Clinic Policies are subject to change