Policies
Referrals
A referral is required for you to see any specialist, including a dermatologist. In order to obtain a referral you must see a local primary care provider (GP, NP or Walk-In GP). Your appointment will be covered by MSP if you are eligible. If you reside from a different province, we can still accept you as a patient as long as you’ve been referred from a local BC primary care provider. Due to the high volume of patients seen at our clinic, we are only able to attend to one concern per referral. If you have multiple concerns, please ask your referring provider to send separate referrals per concern. Each concern warrants its own appointment that will be booked on separate days.
In-person appointments
Your referral determines the appointment that you are offered and as such your consultation is intended to address this specific concern. Our carefully planned scheduling allows us to address a wide range of skin issues and minimizes wait times. Although we try our best to keep the clinic running on time, we ask that you please allocate 60 to 90 minutes for your appointment.
No-show & late cancellation fees (less than 2 business days)
$75 will be charged to patients that fail to attend their appointment or provide less than 2 business days notice. This means that Monday appointments must be cancelled by Thursday to avoid a late cancellation fee. We will not reschedule your appointment until any outstanding fees have been paid. If there have been 2 or more no-show visits or late cancellations, the patient-doctor relationship will be terminated due to lack of continuity of care. We ask that if you are unwell, please call the clinic to cancel and re-book your appointment for a later date.
Ongoing specialist care
A new referral will always be required for new concerns. If the doctor has indicated that your condition requires follow-up visits, we are happy to schedule you according to their instructions. If no follow-up has been discussed during your visit, you are discharged from specialist care and are asked to follow up in primary care (GP, walk-in or NP). Our clinic is in constant communication with your referring provider’s office regarding your care in order to ensure the best outcome for you.
Prescription Refills
If you have not been seen in the last 6 months or have been discharged from our care, and you are wanting a refill on a prescription, please arrange an appointment with your primary care provider to discuss ongoing prescribing and management of your condition. If you are a patient who is receiving ongoing care from our clinic and are short of your medication, please ask your pharmacy to fax a refill request to us at 778-693-3355. Should you have any questions about any medications prescribed, your community pharmacist is a great resource to reach out to and can communicate with us if they require any additional information.
Rude, aggressive, racist, sexist and/or other inappropriate behaviour
Rude, aggressive, racist, sexist and/or other inappropriate behaviour is not tolerated at Spectrum Dermatology. If this behaviour occurs, the doctor will terminate the patient-doctor relationship with this patient immediately with no additional warnings. This will also terminate the relationship with any minors/dependents this individual may have under the doctor’s care.
Spectrum Dermatology is a UBC teaching clinic
Medical students and resident doctors may participate in providing you with care during your visit. This may mean more time spent on site due to the time needed to train the next generation of physicians and health care providers.
After-hours care
Unfortunately, Spectrum Dermatology does not see patients outside of regular office hours. For urgent concerns, please visit your nearest hospital.