While you can encourage eligible patients to get vaccinated, patients cannot be denied access to necessary in-person care based solely on their vaccination status. In-person care can be provided safely - even in the absence of a negative test result or vaccination - by taking appropriate precautions, including screening and isolating patients, using necessary PPE, and providing care during set times.
*Can I restrict in-person care to only those patients who have been vaccinated or have a recent negative COVID-19 test result? In addition to our policy, helpful resources regarding the limits and appropriateness of using virtual care have been developed by the Ontario College of Family Physicians, Canadian Medical Association, , OntarioMD, and the Quality Division of Ontario Health and Ontario Telemedicine Network. It is important to remember that the standard of care must always be met and that the same standards apply to in-person care as to virtual care.
LETTER OF SICK LEAVE FOR SURGERY PROFESSIONAL
For example, where patients have difficulty communicating virtually, where physical contact is necessary to provide care and services (e.g., newborn care, prenatal care, vaccine administration) and other diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (e.g., Pap smears and biopsies), or where physical assessments are necessary to make an appropriate diagnosis or treatment decision patients need to be seen in person.Īs CPSO’s Virtual Care policy states, physicians must use their professional judgment to determine whether virtual care is appropriate and only provide virtual care if it is in the patient’s best interest to do so. This means only providing virtual care when the quality of care will not be compromised by the virtual modality or when the potential benefits of providing virtual care outweigh the risks to the patient. In-person care is essential for many conditions and some patients do not have adequate access to virtual care. Not all patients will be able to get the care they need virtually as there are limits to what can be done virtually. It is critically important that the standard of care is always met, which means in many cases, care will need to be provided in-person.
Physicians should be continuing to utilize both in-person and virtual visits based on clinical need. in-person visits and to determine which approach is in the patient’s best interest. *How do I balance providing in-person and virtual care to my patients?Įvery practice is unique and finding the right balance will require judgment on the part of the physician to consider the merits of virtual vs. Physicians are not expected to tolerate verbal abuse or threats of physical violence and can take appropriate steps in these instances to defer or delay non-emergent care.
LETTER OF SICK LEAVE FOR SURGERY HOW TO
When deciding how to proceed, consider that in most cases in-person care can be safely provided with appropriate precautions (e.g., donning appropriate PPE, isolating patients, providing care during set times), that physicians have a duty of care where care is urgently needed, that virtual care may be an appropriate alternative, and that redirecting patients to other parts of the system may exacerbate existing and significant resource challenges. If you encounter a situation where a patient not in need of an accommodation refuses to wear a mask, explain the expectation in your practice is that a mask be worn. In these cases, physicians are expected to offer appropriate options to ensure care can safely be provided. Some patients may have health conditions that make it difficult or inhibit their ability to wear a mask. If you have a policy that asks patients to wear masks, it’s important for patients to adhere to that policy.
What if a patient refuses to wear a mask? Physicians or health care facilities can continue to implement masking policies that ask all staff, patients, and other visitors to wear a mask when in the office. The government has ended the mask mandates for most settings, what does this mean for my practice?Īs of June 11 th, all mask mandates have been lifted for indoor settings with the exception of long-term care and retirement homes.Īlthough mask mandates have been lifted, the Chief Medical Officer of Health continues to recommend that all physicians, staff, and visitors continue to wear masks in all health care settings.
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