Office Policies
Valid Health Card
Patients must have a valid health card in order to be seen by the doctor, otherwise a fee of $75.00 will be payable before you see the doctor.
- This amount will be refunded when a valid health card is presented to the front desk, and it is validated by the Ministry of Health
Referrals
- All patients who wish to be seen for medical reasons which are covered by OHIP (e.g. acne, psoriasis, eczema, skin cancer) require a referral from his or her family doctor
- All family members must be referred by their family physician.
- Please do not request for someone in your family to be seen during your appointment.
- All patients who wish to be seen for assessment of skin lesions, skin rashes etc. require a referral from his or her family doctor
- All patient who wish to be seen by one of our medical technicians for one of our aesthetic treatments in the office, not covered by OHIP (chemical peels, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, injections for wrinkles, laser therapy for red or brown spots, photo facials, IPL) do NOT require a referral
Prescriptions
- Dr. Vignjevic does not authorize any requests for prescription repeats by phone.
- All patients must make an appointment.
- Please ask at the time of your appointment if you need more of your medication.
- At the time of your visit, you will be given a type-written paper prescription to take to your pharmacy.
- OHIP does not cover the cost of faxing or calling in prescriptions to pharmacies.
- This service is available in the office, at a cost of $20.00 plus GST, per prescription.
Failure to Show for an Appointment
- Patients who fail to show for their first appointment, without calling to cancel, cannot re-schedule an appointment.
- They are asked to follow-up with their family doctor and to request a referral to another dermatologist.
- Exceptions, for extreme circumstances, may be made at the discretion of the doctor or administrative staff.
Payment for Non-Insured Services
- All invoices for cosmetic procedures (not covered by OHIP) must be paid the same day that the procedure is done.
- We accept Cash, Debit, Visa and MasterCard.
- We do not accept cheques or American Express.
Cancellations
- Appointment times are specifically reserved for our patients.
- If a person is unable to keep their appointment, they are asked to please notify us 24 hours in advance, in which case no charge will be made.
- Appointments cannot be re-scheduled until outstanding invoices for missed appointments are paid in full.
- The fee for a missed appointment is $50.00 plus GST.
- Missed appointment fees are not an OHIP insured service.
- Many people wait several months to see the doctor and many patients call daily for appointments.
- When a patient fails to cancel an appointment, they are depriving another patient from seeing the doctor.
Telephone Calls and Emails
- Due to the very high volume of phone calls our office receives, Dr. Vignjevic does not take calls from patients or reply to patient emails directly.
- Any questions must be relayed to him by the receptionist.
- The phones are least busy between 8-10am.
- This is the best time to call with questions.
- It is often much more convenient to e-mail the office thought our Contact Section.
- If you wish to e-mail us with a question, please click here.
- Please do not email the office photos of your spots or rash, unfortunately the doctor needs to see you in person to make an assessment.
- We do our best to reply to emails as soon as possible, often the same day that they are received.
- Please be sure to read the conditions, instructions and risks of e-mail use outlined in the Contact Section.
Medical Emergencies
- If your condition is an emergency and you cannot wait for your appointment please go to your family doctor or an emergency department.
- If your family doctor agrees that you have a medical emergency that needs immediate attention by a dermatologist, please have your family doctor phone Dr. Vignjevic.
- Dr. Vignjevic will discuss your case with your family doctor and if he agrees that your situation is urgent, and if an appointment is available with one of the dermatologist’s in our office, you will be seen sooner . If there are no appointments available for emergencies in our office, Dr. Vignjevic will recommend another dermatologist to your family doctor who may be able to see you urgently.
Initiation of Care and Continuity of Care
- Please be aware that we cannot guarantee which doctor will see you in our office.
- Dr. Vignjevic or Dr. Saveriano may see you due to absence, emergencies or unforeseen circumstances.
- If you specifically wish to see Dr. Saveriano or Dr. Vignjevic – please have your doctor indicate this clearly on your referral, and we will try to accommodate you as best we can.
- It is our policy, to maintain optimum continuity of care, that the physician who sees the patient first will remain their dermatologist for all future appointments.
- Patients cannot switch back and forth between Dr. Vignjevic and Dr. Saveriano.
Privacy Statement for DoctorV.ca
- Dr. Peter M. Vignjevic & Associates have created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this web site: www.doctorv.ca
- We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer our Web site.
- Our site’s registration form requires users to give us contact information (like their name and e-mail address). We use customer contact information from the registration form to send the user information about our company.
- We will never sell or give your e-mail address, name, home address, phone number, or any other information to another company or web site.
Contacting the Web Site
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, you can contact
Julia (Office Manager and Privacy Officer)
305-800 Queenston Road
Hamilton, ON L8G 1A7
Julia@DoctorV.ca
Privacy Policy for the office of Dr. Vignjevic
In the course of providing medical care, your physician and other employees of the medical practice collect and use personal information concerning your health. As members of the medical profession, we are professionally bound to protect the confidentiality of your personal information.
Purpose of Information
- The physician in this practice collects personal information from patients to provide their requested medical care and to administer this care.
- With your consent, your personal information is only used for this purpose.
- Examples include: Treatment and care for you; bill appropriate payers; plan, administer and manage the Practice; risk management and care improvement; comply with professional and legal requirements, and fulfil other purposes required by law.
- At any time, you should feel free to ask for more information about how we use personal information.
Consent to Collection, Use and Disclosure
- The law requires that a physician must obtain your consent before collecting and using your personal information.
- Your verbal consent provides the Practice with the ability to use your information to provide you with the Health care that you are seeking.
- Because your relationship with your physician is long-term, we seek your permission to collect and use your personal information for as long as we are providing you with care.
- Your enduring consent covers the collection, use and disclosure that are regular and necessary for providing medical care.
- If we propose to use or disclose your information in any other way, we will seek your consent.
- Occasionally, we may imply consent where we can reasonably infer consent from your action or inaction.
- We record any decision not to grant such consent.
Use and Disclosure of your Personal Information
- Most of your personal information is provided by you directly to your physician or from another care provider.
- We are authorized by law to disclose your personal information in an emergency, primarily for your protection.
- There may also be circumstances where we are required by law to disclose your information, such as to public health authorities.
- In these circumstances, we have the right (or obligation) to collect, use or disclose personal information without your consent.
- This occurs when legal, medical, or security reasons may make it impossible or impractical to seek consent.
- When information is being collected for the investigation of the prevention or detection of fraud or for law enforcement purposes, seeking consent might defeat the purpose of the information collection.
- Similarly, seeking consent may be impossible or inappropriate when the individual is a minor, seriously ill or otherwise incapacitated.
- You have a right to know upon request to whom we have disclosed your information.
- Only in rare instances are we prevented by law from making such disclosure.
- We maintain accurate records, and record to whom we disclose your personal information.
Duration of Retention of Personal Information
Your personal information is retained as long as you are a patient of this practice and for a reasonable period of time after that.
Your Right of Access to Your Personal Information
- You have a right to full access to personal information about you contained in our records, provided there is no legal or ethical reason that would prevent us from granting access to you.
- We may charge a minimal or reasonable administration fee to supply the information you request.
Who can Answer your Questions on Privacy
If you have a concern or query about your privacy, please let us know. Our Privacy Officer is Julia
Ontario Privacy Legislation and our Office Policy
- To PROTECT our patient’s confidential records & personal information, and to comply with Ontario’s privacy legislation, Dr V.’s Office has implemented the following office policy;
- Staff MUST SPEAK DIRECTLY TO PATIENTS to:
- Make, change or cancel an appointment
- Release any verbal test results
- Release any medical advice from Dr V
- Answer any prescription concerns
- The ONLY EXCEPTIONS are:
- Speaking to parents for children under the age of 16
- Speaking to caregivers for the elderly or disabled
- When a patient consents for the office to a speak to someone on their behalf
- This means that a spouse, friend, parent, sibling etc. cannot do the above, without the express, clearly documented, permission of the patient himself or herself.
- Your cooperation to protect everyone’s privacy is greatly Appreciated!