Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some Frequently asked questions by our patients regarding the procedures at Norburn Medical Centre.
Patients are encouraged to call before arriving if they require an urgent appointment. This allows the staff to ensure that your needs are met without disrupting the needs of other patients. If you walk in with an urgent problem, you may have to wait to see your doctor or an alternate doctor if your doctor is unavailable.
When you make the appointment over the phone or in person, please tell the staff the reason for your appointment in a few words. This allows the staff to appropriately book and prepare for your appointment. Examples of reasons include: “Followup appointment,” “Review my tests,” or “pap smear.”
Please check in with the front desk staff immediately on your arrival to ensure your appointment starts in a timely fashion. When you are shown into your exam room, consider telling the medical office assistant the main reason for your visit so they may help prepare you / the exam room before the physician enters. For example, if you need a diabetic review, it would be helpful to have your weight and blood pressure checked by the medical office assistant before the physician enters.
Problem lists – At Norburn Medical, we sincerely understand that your medical concerns are unique. Our physicians book 10 minutes for routine appointments and 20-30 for complete examinations and counselling visits. If you have a list of concerns, please review the list with your physician, and he/she will help you prioritize that list and work with you to address the most concerning or pressing issue(s) on that list. Keep in mind that with your physician’s training, he/she may suggest which issues might be the most pressing. We may not be able to address the entire list during a routine 10-minute appointment, and you may need to rebook to address the issues which weren’t addressed. Unless otherwise agreed between you and your physician, most appointments are 10 minutes.
Your physician reviews all results. They may decide to phone you with the results, call you in to discuss the results, or wait until your next visit to review your results with you. Most of your laboratory results are available online through My eHealth. You can sign up for this service the next time you visit the laboratory. If you have any questions about your results, please make an appointment to see your physician. We encourage you to make an appointment to review the imaging test results. For your own safety, office staff are not permitted to give results over the phone.
Please arrive on time for your appointment — due to the size of the waiting room, we discourage patients from arriving too early. Please make a list of your medications that are running out. It may also be helpful to make a list of issues you want to address during your visit – not all issues may be able to be addressed in a single visit, but it can allow you and your physician to decide with topics are the most important/urgent. When being shown to the exam room, please advise the nurse if you need to have your vision checked (e.g. for a driver’s medical exam), have your weight/height checked (e.g. for pre-surgery physicals), or provide a urine sample (e.g. if having urinary symptoms or needing a pregnancy test). Please remove your jacket if you anticipate that we will need to listen to your chest or check your blood pressure (especially if you are coming for a renewal of your medication).
If you do not have any new symptoms or medical issues, complete examinations or Physicals are not an insured service by BC’s Medical Services Plan. However, MSP does cover complete physical examinations if you experience specific physical or psychological symptoms, chronic illness, or have a family history of illnesses.