The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskPaul@Sunnybrook.ca
Question: I live in rural Ontario and my doctor is part of a group practice. Most of the doctors in the practice are fairly old and it only makes sense that they will start to retire soon. I would like to begin the search now for a new doctor because I don’t want to be stuck without one. There is an Ontario Government website that helps patients find doctors. But it’s for people who don’t currently have a family physician. Do I have to quit my doctor’s practice to use the website? And what do I do if I need to see a doctor before I find a new one? Will my previous doctor still be able to treat me? Or, can he refuse to see me because I left his practice?
Answer: It sounds like you want to beat the rush by changing doctors before your family doctor actually closes shop. I guess you are assuming that everyone in his practice will be looking for a new doctor at the same time. And, in a rural area, there may not be many physicians taking on new patients. Okay, I understand your logic.
As you correctly point out, you can’t use the Ontario government’s website Health Care Connect if you are currently enrolled with a primary-care provider.
So you will have to ask your doctor to be taken off his list – or roster – of patients. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t continue to treat you, says David Jensen, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
“Ending enrolment with a physician does not end the patient/physician relationship, it merely changes the payment model under which services provided by the physician are funded,” he explained in an email.
Many Ontario doctors who work in group practices are now paid a flat fee, per patient, per year. This arrangement, which is known as capitation, is relatively new. The amount is adjusted to take into account the age, gender and medical complexity of the individual patient.
Generally speaking, though, your physician is paid the same amount regardless of whether you have just one appointment or 10 appointments a year.
If you are no longer part of his regular practice, he can still treat you on a traditional fee-for-service basis in which the province pays him a set fee for each medical service he provides to you.
So you can leave his practice and have ongoing medical care. But there is a catch – the doctor is not obliged to see you unless it’s “an emergency situation” once you’ve left, cautions Kathryn Clarke, senior communications coordinator at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
That means you want to make the formal split from his practice on friendly terms. Mr. Jensen says, “Patients are encouraged to discuss their circumstance with their enrolling physician to ensure continuity of care.”
And if a congenial relationship isn’t in the cards, you have a few other ways to continue your medical care. “The ministry’s Health Care Options website has a list of primary-care providers – including walk-in and urgent-care clinics across the province – who may see and treat patients on a same-day or urgent-care basis,” notes Mr. Jensen.
But I think you really need to have a thorough discussion with your doctor before you take any action.
“I see nothing wrong in just having a conversation about it the next time you’re in the doctor’s office,” says Ms. Clarke. She suggests that you ask your doctor if he has any immediate plans to retire. If that’s the case, ask how much notice he intends to give his patients. You can then raise the idea of leaving his practice – but still see him on an as-needed basis.
Ms. Clarke also points out that your assumptions could be wrong. He may have no plans to give up his practice any time soon. “Doctors don’t necessarily retire at 65 – they don’t have to and we have many physicians who are working into their 70s,” she notes.
(Of course, having an older doctor may lead to other problems such as competency-related issues that recently made headlines in British Columbia. But let’s save that topic for another time. )
“Keep the lines of communication open,” advises Ms. Clarke. “I think that most physicians would be very responsive to your questions and it is good for the relationship to have these conversations.”
Paul Taylor, Sunnybrook’s Patient Navigation Advisor, provides advice and answers questions from patients and their families, relying heavily on medical and health experts. His blog Personal Health Navigator is reprinted on Healthy Debate with the kind permission of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Email your questions to AskPaul@sunnybrook.ca and follow Paul on Twitter @epaultaylor
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So many Indian doctors do wrong with there patients in Brampton
So many Indian doctors do wrong with there patients in Brampton
I live in BC and have lost faith in my GP after approx 4 years of seeing them. As a result, I’ve been looking for other doctors willing/able to take me on as their patient. I’ve been successful in finding a GP who can take me and they provided me with the paperwork for my current GP to sign. When I brought the document to my current GP, they refused to sign for the transfer. Does my existing GP have the right to decline my request…?
My Doctor is going to drop me as a patient as i have been a patient for over 15 years at the same location The reason given is that i do not reside in the township and i have the means to travel (???) and there are sicker people there than i am and she wants to look after them As i am 77 and have checkups four times a year and they last no more than 5 minutes each time I really dont understand this Demographic rule coming into play after all these years Who changed this and why was i not covered by a grandfather clause Really like to know that And finding a new doctor in this rural area will probably be impossible What to do now ???
Can a doctor stop treating you and drop you from there practice due to you not residing in the area i have resided in the same area for over 25 years and have had this doctor for almost 15 of these years i really only go to see her when she decides for a follow up appointment another concern i have is i do have 4 presciptions that i have to take and have to go once a month for my INR i am really concerned about this
when i received a letter about this we discussed he reasons for the change these are as follows
1_ I live in the near north but NOT in the village of Sundridge
2_ I have the means to travel to Sundridge other in the area do not (really unsure what thats about)
3- There are people in Sundridge that are sicker than i am
My health is pretty stable but do have medical problems which i have medications for and not sure how i will be able to get them along with my INR checks Also have contacted over 20 doctors and ALL not taking on new patients and told good luck finding a doctor I would really like to find an alternative for this concern
My doctor uses only RN’s & I haven’t seen “him” in over a year. But the worse thing is they never follow up with appointments with specials they say you ought to see. What can I do?
I cannot believe this kind of OHIP, l see a Diabetic Foot Doctor who my doctor doesn’t want me to see any more cause he gets dinged for it. Why do l the patient have to suffer for their bonus as having me as a patient? I am pissed off and disgusted.
Disputes with your employer under the Carer’s Leave Act 2001 should be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission within 6 months of the dispute. You must use the online complaint form available on workplacerelations.ie. The time limit may be extended for up to a further 6 months, but only where there is a reasonable cause which prevented the complaint being brought within the normal time limit. Disputes arising from the dismissal of an employee in relation to carer’s leave are dealt with under the unfair dismissals legislation.
Can your doctor still fill your prescriptions until you find a new one?
my family doctor retired and had to have 2 doctor take his patients at the family clinic. i was with my doctor for 30 yrs or more ,at the age of 11 1/2 i was struck by a car on the back of a motor bike, Braking both leg ,the right was near ripped off. well years go by i smash my self up more ,worked construction . family doctor told me i am getting arthritis and it will only get worse. Now going on 57,yrs old my new doctor never has moved from his chair to Look at my knee joints and hand , say’s to me .. WELL I Fell you do not have Arthritis But Weak Joint’s ?? For 2 years he has been talking to me Like i am not disabled ,yet never laid a hand on me ,send me for drug test and everything is okay,but tells me i need to get off the Oxycodone. i need a new doctor ,i hate going to talk to him and he under minds me.
I also desperately need to leave my GP he has been our family Dr. for a long time, since our previous Dr. left town. (just wound up with him with no choice) I also live in rural Ont. I no longer have faith in him as my Dr. he has a bad reputation in town for absolutely not caring for his patients and being very very negligent in his whole approach to caring for his patients. There are so many instances of his negligence ( way to many to list all of them ). but I will highlight a few. 16 months ago my husband had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital, ( thankfully he seen another Dr. ) in our town our local Drs. run our small hospital except for the weekends when other Drs. are brought in from out of town. This Dr. seen something was wrong and called in one of our internist, since we do not have any cardiologist. He determined that my husband had 2 blocked arteries one of them 98%. When our family GP showed up in the morning he wanted to release my husband telling him he only had a pulled mussel. The internist THANKFULLY showed up around the same time and told our family GP that he was not being released and was in fact being transported to a larger hospital to have a stent put in , a hugh argument insued , with our GP insisting he was being released, that there was absolutely nothing wrong ( with my husband ). Thankfully the internist held his ground and he was transported and did get his stent, ( over the strong objections of our GP ). The cardiologist in the hospital he was transported to said he would not have made it another month with that blockage and would have died instantly when it erupted. Our GP’s office has very very very poor parking,a long long ways from his office, I am severely disabled ( although I have no diagnosis as to WHY ? ) and I can no longer even get into his office, so now I just do not go at all. There is much more to say about the inadequate health care that me and my family are forced to endure from this GP.
I want my husband to start seeing the same Doctor as me. My Doctor is currently not accepting new patients. We are both retired and it would be so much easier for us if we shared the same Doctor. Is there any exceptions to the rule of dropping off his Doctor’s list and waiting for an opening at mine? I really don’t want him to fall between the cracks.
Absolutely terrible way of doing things. Leave your doctor, hope you can find another one, and if not, hope your previous doctor will still see you! Only a bureaucrat could think of this “catch 22” situation.
What happens when you move from Barrie to Whitby? It’s almost 2 hours to see the doctor. Do I still have to ask my doctor to change my status, or can I then use health connect?
I am in the same boat and worse if we do not like it in Barrie (to much snow shoveling) we may move back to Whitby and have lost our family doctor just for trying to live in a different city. There is something about >100km from doctor that is written in about ths topic according to rumour mill but have yet to find it on Gov web site.
Hi Paul my daughter is 22 and very ill with an AID which her GP and specialist in St. Catharines can not diagnosis properly and are ignoring. I want a new GP for her but further more a recommendation to a proper specialist in Ontario that deals with lupus /Dermatomyositis? She has lost almost 30 pounds achy joints huge muscle loss etc. Thoughts?
I’ve talked to my doctor who has just retired. When I go to health connect it tells me I must deregister from his practice before I can sign up. How do I do this?
My mother will be moving in a month from another city in Ontario into a retirement residence in my city (about an hour and a quarter’s drive away from her current home). We were originally told the residence had a doctor who would take her on but we have just found out he is no longer taking new patients; my own family doctor is not taking new patients either, and I don’t know of any other doctors taking new patients without the Health Care Connect contact. My mother has a doctor where she lives now, but needs a doctor here so she won’t have to be driven back and forth when sick. What can we do to get her a doctor here?
My doctor falls asleep when I am talking to him either is he getting too old or overworked or I’m boring. He help me get surgery on my knee, after the surgery. I went to see him just to fill them in our I doing . his answer was when did you have surgery
I read the above article. My doctor of many years retired in August,2016 which I knew 2 or 3 months in advance, but I was not able to look for a new doctor as I had a death in my family and also I was ill. I have found a new doctor in a clinic type of practice, but have not been there many times and don’t know yet doctor if will suit me and vice versa. Because of the Ontario rules mentioned above, I can’t get another doctor till I tell the new doctor till I find another new doctor. I don’t know if the setup at the new doctor would suit me, as it’s more of a training group practice for medical interns, nurses, etc. I I don’t like the idea that I should have to give up the new doctor before getting another new doctor. It would be more fair to people like me to find a new doctor suited to me and vice versa BEFORE giving up the new doctor who I would like to know better to see if I want to continue on with them. I am also not in favour of possibly leaving a new doctor on the basis of going to the first new doctor just in emergencies. Things should be set up that I can try a new doctor if I don’t want to stay with my present new doctor, and still should be able to go to my present new doctor any time, not just for emergencies. Since I am the patient, I should be able to have more choice of what doctor I want to have, and not have to tell the doctor I am currently listed with, to take me off their list, and I can only see them if its emergency.
I should be able to get the Ont. govt. to suggest a new doctor(s) who I can check out before leaving the doctor I have at present time. I don’t like the Ont. govt. arrangement about not being able to get new doctors, before giving up the doctor I presently have. It should be my choice. The Ont. govt. should allow people looking for a new doctor, more flexibility. It’s already stressful enough trying to find a new doctor who you have to start over with. It’s a very personal thing, and you have to find the doctor who suits you. These are just my opinions. Thanks.
P,S. I notice the date on your article is in 2014. maybe you won’t even see this email I am sending.
My family doctor diagnosed I had a rib pain when I went to see her for a digestive issue.
What can come out worse than that?
I live in Winnipeg I have one family doctor but I want to switch to another one what is the procedure
You can find information about finding a new doctor in Manitoba on the website of the provincial government. Here is the weblink:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/familydoctorfinder/index.html
I hope this helps.
Thank you for the advice. I didn’t realize that it could be this complicated. I think I might switch providers just because I am moving to a province a little too far away. If I switch now I won’t have to worry about it when if something tragic happens.
http://advmednaples.com/features/family-practice-in-naples/
Sandy, Yes, I agree the article seems a bit complicated if you have to get a new doctor. My doctor retired a few months ago, and I don’t like the idea about the Ont. government rule about if they suggest a new doctor to you, that you have to give up your old doctor first. They also say you can keep the new doctor (if you want to get another doctor) but you can only go to them in an emergency or tell the first doctor to take you off their list.
this article is all well and fine but it doesn’t address how do you go about firing (severing) your relationship entirely with the family Dr. In my case my family Dr i saw a grand total of 3x including “the meet and greet”. the last time was the proverbial straw that the broke the camels back when she didn’t bother looking at my health records (but kept asking me questions about my health/ medical diagnosis dating back over 10 yrs.,) where all her questions could be answered, made me wait 20 minutes into my appointment ( I was the 1st client of the day), and then threaten to pull my D/L).
Is stating that I will not be coming back verbally sufficient ( as that is what I did).
You can delist from your current doc tor by contacting Services Canada and then register with Health canada 1-800-445-1822 to find a new doctor.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-family-doctor-or-nurse-practitioner
BUT you cannot search for a new physician until you have been delisted from your current.
I just don’t want to be under medical care how do I go about that