When rejections are disabled for a consultation request, providers are advised to follow Maple's Corporate Consultation policy. The policy outlines that similar to when providers see patients in a walk-in clinic, all presenting patients should be seen and assessed, even if the visit may not be treatable in the walk-in clinic.
In Quebec, patients on certain partnerships may be eligible for an in-person assessment referral. To learn more about this, please see the Quebec care recommendation pathway for in-person assessments article, available here.
If the request is for a concern that cannot be treated or resolved virtually, the expectation is that you will take a basic history, listen to the patient’s concerns, provide some counselling and advise the patient on next steps, including the urgency with which to seek in-person care.
The steps for these visits are included below:
Begin by letting the patient know that their case likely needs to be treated in person and why, and that you’d like to hear more about their concern.
Set expectations with the patient that you will spend 5-10 minutes discussing their case and answering any questions they may have.
After the discussion, offer to write the patient a custom note (using the Note or Upload feature) outlining your differential diagnosis and recommended next steps, and explain that they can take this note directly to an in-person physician so they do not have to outline their case in detail a second time. Please note that Maple will not be able to assist in arranging the next steps for in-person care.
Always end the consultation by asking if the patient’s questions have been answered.
In cases where you picked up a consultation that could not be resolved virtually and where you follow the steps outlined above, you may complete the visit normally, with charge.