Patient Rostering
Rostering is a process by which patients register their care with a family practice, family physician, or team. At our clinic, rostering is a process by which you connect in an ongoing relationship with a family physician as your "primary care provider". Rostering can be contrasted with the " fee fir service" model, where you periodically visit a walk-in-clinic or family doctor without a direct relationship between visits
How are Patient Rostered at the Clinic?
Most patients sign a roster enrolment form soon after connecting with the family physician, After the roster form is signed, the family physician notified the Ministry if Health that this patient is his/her patient. Being a rostered patient comes with both benefits and responsibilities.
Benefits of Rostering
There are many benefits to rostered patients.
Most Important: being rostered means that you family physician is compensated to take care of you, even when you are not actually present for a visit in the office. Consequently, we can afford to spend time ensuring that you testing and general healthcare is kept up-to-date, without depending entirely on your old fashioned "annual physical". This model is contrasted with the "fee for service" model, where patient frequently need to come in, even for trivial matters, due to billing restrictions.
As a rostered patient, your physician is able to communicate directly with these multidisciplinary teams (nurse, pharmacist, dietician and social worker) and consultants (ex. an endocrinologist and psychiatrist). We are able to refer patients for medications reviews, dietary counselling mental health counselling etc.
Requirements for Rostered Patients
For Family Health Organizations and Family Health Teams to function properly, rostered patient must commit to receiving their primary health care exclusively from their family physician. This is the responsibility we ask you to take on as a rostered patient.
We strongly believe that receiving your primary care from walk in clinics and home call doctor services does not provide the same quality of care. Walk in clinics and home call doctor services do not send notes, consults and results to you family doctor. We are committed to the continuity of care and providing you with the most comprehensive care possible. As such, we are respectfully asking our patients to avoid using walk in clinics or home call doctor services. Again, we have reserved emergency appointments every day. Even if your physician is unavailable, we will do our utmost to book you with another physician at the office if the issue is urgent. In addition the Guelph Family Health Team has implemented an After Hours Clinic, in which every day there is a clinic hosted by a family practitioner within our team for patients who require urgent care after hours or on the weekend. Please notify us as soon as you have an urgent issue so we can best accommodate you
Each month your family physician receives and Outside User report from the Ministry of Health. This report provides your doctor with the names of all patients that have accessed walk in clinics of home call doctor services over the previous month. Under our current agreement with the Ministry of Health, anytime a rostered patient seeks medical care at a walk in clinic or home call doctor service, that fee is deducted directly from your family physician. Therefore, we, as your family physicians, are being financially penalized for such use
Summary
A Request to Avoid Walk-In Clinics, Home Visit Services, and Other Family Doctor Services...
In Summary, our hope is to provide you with good access to care throughout the week.
When booking appointments it is best to arrange to see your primary physician during their regular hours throughout the week. If you become unwell in the evening or on a weekend we ask that you call into the Guelph family Health Team After-hours Clinic (or an emergency department) and avoid walk in clinics, student health. We are notified be the Ministry of Health Long Term care and we are billed the costs of these visits. ER vists and specialist visits are not an issue.
Proud Partners of the Guelph Family Health Team.
Arbour Family Medical Centre offers comprehensive health care services for the whole family.