Important Information for Current and Prospective Clients
Please read the following carefully before scheduling an appointment.
Main Street Veterinary Services is an integrative veterinary practice offering a mixed modality approach to medical care for dogs and cats. It is our goal to provide you and your pet with exceptional client service and patient care. Our clinic is unique in how it operates, so in order to avoid misunderstandings we have put together this information as a way to create awareness and to educate new and existing clients of our policies and procedures.
Emergency Care:
At this time Main Street Veterinary Services is not equipped to handle emergencies. We strongly encourage all clients to familiarize themselves with the emergency options available in their vicinity. Please be proactive to ensure that you have an emergency animal hospital in mind BEFORE a crisis happens. In the London area our local emergency clinic is the London Regional Veterinary Emergency and Referral Hospital. This clinic is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and can be reached at 519 432-3300.
Medical Advice:
The College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) dictates we cannot offer medical advice without an established doctor-patient relationship. This means that in order to offer advice or make recommendations it is essential that we physically see your pet, and that you’ve discussed your specific questions with the Doctor. Our technicians are happy to schedule an appointment for you, but they cannot give you medical advice. Please respect that we must adhere to this rule and direct all your questions to the doctor during your scheduled appointment.
Communication and Coordination of Information:
We believe in prevention through proactive healthcare (preventing future medical problems, rather than waiting for symptoms to happen). In order to facilitate this we require access to your pet’s recent medical history and must be kept abreast of changes in your pet’s response to our protocols, as well as with changes in overall health. This means you, as your pet’s guardian, are in charge of coordinating communication among the doctors on your pet’s healthcare team. We recommend you have updated medical records emailed to us whenever you take your pet to another veterinarian for treatment. We will add any new medical records received to your pet’s file for review at your next appointment with us.
Individualized Treatment and Care For Your Pet:
Initially, your pet may require more frequent evaluations until their condition is stabilized. Once a maintenance protocol is achieved, your pet may need to be seen for an appointment every 6 months to review medications and address your pet’s dynamic, ever changing and aging body.
The frequency of rechecks and the potential to handle updates via phone consultation is on a case by case basis and based on the severity and duration of your pet’s medical issues. In some cases the doctor may feel comfortable with a phone consult after your first visit; however, in many cases your pet must be seen to determine if changes in the treatment protocol are warranted.
Diagnostic Procedures and Tests:
At Main Street Veterinary Services we are equipped to handle a wide variety of medical conditions and can perform many diagnostic procedures in house. It is most common for our doctors to oversee blood work and tests for your pet here at the clinic. We are aware that some of our clients travel from outside of the London area to see our doctors and understand there are times when it is in the best interest of your pet to elect to have these tests completed at a local vet. If tests of any nature are completed by another clinic please ensure that the results are emailed to [email protected]. Test results will be added to your file and results will be discussed accordingly.
Calling in With Questions vs. Telephone Consultations:
When an established client calls in with questions about their pet our technicians are trained to respond accordingly and relay messages to and from the doctors. If you call with a question for the doctor, it will be communicated to them and a technician will return your call with a response as soon as the doctor has reviewed the file. This process may not take place the same day. Depending on the individual needs of the patient and the complexity of the case, a response may take up to a few days.
Generally speaking, our doctors are scheduled to see patients back to back all day and therefore are not available to personally answer your telephone questions. The doctor may ask you to call the office a few weeks after your appointment takes place to provide us with a progress report. If this is the case, the receptionist and/or technicians will record the information and forward it to the doctor for review and inclusion in the patient file. If you prefer to consult directly with the doctor, we recommend scheduling an appointment to go over your questions.
On occasion, once a protocol is established for a medical issue, clients may request to have blood work or test results from another hospital reviewed by our doctors and recommendations made without a follow up appointment. (An example of this could include a review of pre-operative blood tests from a visit to a local vet for dental surgery.) In these situations, there is a fee for the doctor to review the case and interpret the test results. Depending on the doctor’s schedule, this process can take time. These unique situations are usually reserved for clients who do not have extensive questions about test results, as recommendations will be communicated through our technicians. Telephone consultation time slots are available at different times throughout the week. The cost for these consultations is$40.. Fees are billed directly to your credit card.
Prescription Refill Requests:
We require a minimum of 24-hour prescription refill notice if you are picking up medications at the hospital. Once you have purchased medication for your pet, we are unable to provide refunds or exchanges.
Cancellations:
If you need to cancel an appointment, please notify us at least 2 business days in advance by speaking to a representative on the phone. We understand missing an appointment is sometimes unavoidable. However, empty time slots mean other waiting pets are denied time with a doctor. There may be a no show fee If you fail to contact the office to cancel your appointment at least 48 hours in advance you may be charged a $50.00 no show fee..
Terms:
Main Street Veterinary Services cannot extend credit to clients. We require immediate payment for services rendered. If you have an estimate for services, a deposit for the estimated cost is required.
Although it happens very rarely, Main Street Vet Services can refuse to accept clients or patients and as applicable reserves the right to refer these clients elsewhere. We also reserve the right to terminate the veterinarian-client relationship at any time and make a referral elsewhere. You may, of course, seek veterinary care elsewhere as well. We can email your medical records (24 hour notice is required) free of charge or print and mail your records for a fee.
