Open Access Appointment Scheduling

The office uses an open access approach for appointment scheduling.  This means a portion of the appointments each day are scheduled ahead of time (new patient visits, periodic health exam, scheduled follow-up) but most of the schedule is available for same day/next day appointments.  In this way, patients are seen when they need to see a doctor and not days or weeks later.  

Appointment Scheduling Policy

To book an appointment, call 519-396-2823 or book online through the link on the website.  Online booking is reserved for non-urgent concerns, such as scheduled follow-up and periodic health exams. If you require a more urgent appointment, do not book online, call instead. Leave a brief voicemail and include the reason for visit.  All requests are triaged by the receptionist and documented for chief complaint(s).  Specific information about the patient’s concern(s) must be given in order to schedule appropriately.  All information is kept strictly confidential within the patient’s circle of care.

Please arrive 10 minutes early in order to register and complete paperwork or have an initial assessment completed by the nurse (such as height, weight, blood pressure, etc).  To help ensure appointments start on time, patients who are late will be rebooked.  

Regular clinic visits will be scheduled for 15 minutes to address your main concerns.  Secondary issues will be addressed if time permits; otherwise, a follow-up appointment will be offered within several weeks.  If you believe that your concerns will require more time with the doctor, it is important for you to inform our receptionist so that an extended appointment can be booked as soon as possible.  If you are calling about counseling, mental health or stress management issues, please inform our receptionist so that more time can be scheduled.

Periodic health examinations must be booked in advance, as this visit will be dedicated to do a comprehensive health audit and education session over 20-30 minutes.  You should not save problems or urgent issues for this appointment.  Make an appointment to be seen much sooner for specific or urgent concerns.

Missed Appointment Policy

24 hours’ cancellation notice is required. If an urgent matter comes up the same day, please call to cancel so that we can try to fill that visit spot with someone else. If you miss your appointment without cancelling, you will be charged $60 for a missed 15 minute visit and $120 for a missed 30 minute visit (based on the Ontario Medical Association’s guidelines for uninsured service fees).  Fees for all uninsured services are subject to change. To cancel, please call 519-396-2823 and leave a voicemail.

Requests for Phone Call Advice and Reviewing Test Results

Receptionists are not qualified to offer medical advice.  Nursing staff (if available) will offer basic advice when indicated.  All test results are reviewed by the doctor and patients will be notified of these results by nursing staff regardless if that result is normal or abnormal.  If a test is ordered by another physician like a specialist, it is the responsibility of that physician to review those test results with you. Telephone appointments are available upon request for certain medical concerns as triaged by Dr. Cavanagh. You may be required to have an in person assessment depending on the medical issues needing assessed.

Prescribing Policies

Help us to help you --if you have no repeats for a medication, let us know during your office visit and we will renew it.  If you are on your last refill of a medication, please book an appointment for a medication review at least 2 months in advance. If a detailed medication review is appropriate, then a dedicated follow-up visit will be scheduled.  This office follows evidence-based guidelines for all prescriptions; including antibiotics, narcotics and medications for stress-related conditions.  

Medications will be prescribed for the appropriate amount to get you to your next appointment.  This will help reduce unnecessary waste to you if the prescription needs to be modified.  An uninsured service fee of $20 will be charged to the patient for each phone/fax prescription renewal requested by patients or pharmacies.

Referrals to Specialists

To facilitate a faster and more effective consultation, patients must book an appointment with Dr. Cavanagh for pre-consultation information-gathering and investigations.  

After-Hours and Holiday/Weekend Coverage

Please go the the Kincardine Emergency Department for any urgent or emergent care needs during non-office hours.  The Kincardine Family Health Team offers a same day urgent care clinic with our Nurse Practitioner on weekdays that Dr. Cavanagh is undertaking other professional activities. Once you are a patient of Dr. Cavanagh, she is your registered primary care physician with the Ontario government. That means any visits with other primary care physicians are considered outside use and result in charges directly to Dr. Cavanagh. If there is repeated evidence of outside use, you may be discharged from Dr. Cavanagh’s practice.

Uninsured Services

Fees for medical services that are not covered by OHIP are the responsibility of you, the patient.  The fees assigned are as per the recommendations of the Ontario Medical Association.  We realize and will always take into consideration that some patients may not be able to pay for these services.  Please do not hesitate to inform us if these charges pose a financial hardship to you.  Patients will be informed if a service will be uninsured before it is provided.  Please see the list provided in the exam rooms or the website for further details.  Fees for all uninsured services are subject to change.

Workplace Violence/Harassment

We have a no-tolerance policy toward harassment, yelling, intimidating, humiliating or discriminating any of our staff. If there is evidence of harassment to staff you will be discharged from Dr. Cavanagh’s practice with no warnings provided.

Working together and following these policies we can ensure that each patient receives the highest quality of care.  If you have any questions about the above policies and procedures, please do not hesitate to ask.