Urgent Care
Delivered at Home
Urgent Care at Home
Reduce the need to visit the Emergency room or Doctor's Office
- Advanced Point of Care testing to obtain the correct diagnosis and guide therapy
- Quick triage to determine the severity of your condition and guide the next therapeutic steps
- Same day access to medical specialists for more complex cases
- Ability to order lab and radiology studies
How it Works
1. Book an appointment
Open 7 days a week (availability depending on staffing and location)
2. Medical Care at home
An experienced nurse practitioner will come to your home to assess, diagnose and treat you in your home.
3. Follow up
Your encounter note will be sent to your family doctor. If you need to go to the Emergency department, clinic note and test results will be provided.
Benefits
Advanced medical care to your home
- Advanced medical testing at home
- Confirm your diagnosis and avoid the ‘best guess’ model
- Reduce the need to wait in doctor's office or the Emergency Department
- Same day appointments
- Same day specialist consultation
At home services offered
We offer full medical evaluation services at home. The nurse practitioner takes comprehensive vitals and offers point of care diagnostics to help in your diagnosis and treatment plan. This could include cardiac, respiratory or infectious disease diagnostics. The nurse practitioner is remotely supported by a medical specialist that can remotely assist if needed.
The nurse practitioners are also equipped to order blood and take your sample at the time of your visit. Depending on the time of your appointment, lab results might be available the same day.
They can also order radiology studies and refer you to facilities where you might be seen the same day.
At the end of your visit, your clinical encounter notes and test results will be sent to your primary care physician.
Frequently Asked Questions
What conditions do you treat?
Similar conditions that you would present to an urgent care or walk in care clinic for:
- Respiratory: coughs, colds, shortness of breath, sore throat
- Cardiac: non-cardiac chest pain, swelling of legs, palpitations
- Gastrointestinal: digestive issues nausea/vomiting/diarrhea), abdominal pain, bloating
- Rheumatologic: joint pain, difficulty walking, joint swelling and redness
- Dermatology: skin rashes, itchiness, abrasions, minor burns
- Neurological: minor headaches, fever, falls
- Infectious Diseases: Covid/flu/shingles, skin infections, UTI
- Dermatology: Rashes, abrasions and minor burns
What conditions are not appropriate for your service?
All cases will be screened on sign up to ensure that we are the most appropriate service for your medical condition.
Examples of conditions that are not appropriate are, any acute conditions that could be life threatening and where you should be immediately seen in the emergency room or urgent care centre without any delay. This includes:
- Hemodynamic instability: Low blood pressure or very fast or slow heart rate
- Very high fevers with delirium/confusion
- Severe chest pain where there is concern about a heart attack or heart failure
- Trauma or a fall where there is concern about a broken bone (hip), that would require urgent imaging and possible hospital admission
- Lacerations requiring sutures
- Uncontrolled or unexplained bleeding/pregnancy concerns
- Problems after surgery
- Difficulty breathing
- Severe headaches and neck pain
Will you see all cases that sign up for your service?
No, we will not see all cases. All cases will be screened to ensure they are appropriate for our home triage. Acute life threatening conditions should proceed to the nearest emergency department.
What happens if after your in home assessment you recommend that I go to the emergency department?
If we complete our assessment and then decide that you should go to the emergency department, we will provide you with a medical note and test results which will help the emergency nurse triage your case appropriately and thereby saving you time.
If after assessing me at home, you find that I need to go to the emergency room, will there be a refund?
No, there will not be any refund if we perform a full assessment as part of our service is to help in this decision process and therefore your payment is towards this service.
Is this an OHIP covered service?
No, OHIP only covers complex home visits, this includes:
An elderly, frail patient is someone who is over 65 years of age and has one or more of the following:
- Complex medical management needs, that may include multi-medication intake; Cognitive impairment (e.g. dementia or delirium); Age-related reduced mobility or falls; or unexplained functional decline
A housebound patient is someone who has all of the following:
- Difficulty accessing office-based care due to medical, physical, cognitive or psychosocial needs/conditions;
- Alternative methods of transportation were considered but not feasible
- The person’s care and support requirements can be delivered at home
If you do fit this criteria, our recommendation is for you to seek services from a companies that provide OHIP covered home visits.
Who will be performing the Home Assessment?
You will be seen by a Nurse Practitioner with experience in Emergency and Cardiology medicine.
Can the nurse practitioner make referrals?
Yes, complex cases can be referred to our on-call Internal Medicine specialist for often same day appointments. For other specialties, we will make recommendations to your family doctor on the appropriate specialists they should refer you to.
If I use your service will this negatively impact my family doctor as I am seeing another health provider outside their practice?
No, this will not impact your family doctor as you are being seen by a nurse practitioner and they will not be negated (negatively financially impacted) by the visit as it is not considered outside use by OHIP.
How will my family doctor get the information from the visit?
We will fax your family doctor our encounter notes after your visit.
What geographic areas do you cover?
We cover 5km radius from mid-town Toronto.
Can you collect blood samples during your visit?
Yes, our nurse practitioners are fully licensed to take blood at home and we can process it the same day as long as the lab is still open.
What is the difference between your service and traditional home care?
We are focused on acute issues, similar to what is treated at the doctors office, walk in clinics and the emergency department. We are not set up to provide long term continuous care for chronic conditions, which traditionally home care services address.
How do I book an appointment?
All appointments are booked through our online portal.
What if I don’t see an appointment at the time or date that I need it?
Unfortunately, our availability is only what you see online
Do you perform and radiology tests at home?
No, we do not have any mobile radiology services, but we can refer you to radiology facilities that many times can see patients the same day.