Telemedicine Patients

Please bring your health card and, if you have one, your hospital card.

When you arrive, please come first to the Registration office; at the front of the building in SMGH, and through the Emergency entrance at FCHS.

SMGH relies on revenues from paid parking to support patient care. Click here for information about Paid Parking rates and locations.

Click here for a Map to SMGH

Click here for a Map to FCHS

A telemedicine visit uses cameras and video monitors to connect you to doctors and other health professionals over a distance, reducing your need to travel to receive care.

When you have a telemedicine appointment at the hospital, you will be able to see, hear and talk to a doctor or other health professional via two-way video.

Please arrive 20 minutes before your appointment to register. This allows you to become familiar with the nursing staff/coordinator, room and equipment.
Staff will try to see you at your appointment time, but sometimes there may be delays.
You will be asked to sign a consent form for the telemedicine clinic before the visit begins.
A Nurse/Telemedicine coordinator will be available for support during the clinic visit.
The appointment is just like a regular check-up, except the doctor and healthcare team members are on a computer screen.
Your appointment may take up to one hour.
The Nurse/Telemedicine coordinator helps the doctor with the check-up during the appointment.
The physician will determine if there is follow-up care and an appointment will be determined at a later date.
All patient information is private and confidential.

Telemedicine Questions & Answers

What is Telemedicine? - Frequently Asked Questions

What is telemedicine?

What happens at a telemedicine appointment?

A telemedicine appointment is much like a regular health care visit, only the health professional you will be seeing and talking to appears on a video screen.

Once you have checked in at the hospital, you may be asked to change into a gown, depending on the type of examination you require.

An individual who has been trained in telemedicine will bring you into the examination room, show you the equipment and explain how it works. You may ask any questions that you have. After you have been provided with the details about your appointment, you will be asked for your consent to proceed.

Who is with me during a consultation?

In most consultations, if required, a nurse/telemedicine professional will be with you during the examination although your family doctor or other health professional may also attend. In some cases, you may also wish to have a family member or other significant person present.

Who will be examining me?

The health professional you will see will be located at another site that is a member of the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN).

OTN has hundreds of health professionals providing care at hundreds of sites throughout the province in over 200 specialties.

How long does a telemedicine appointment take?

A telemedicine appointment can run anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the type of appointment and whether or not you have seen the health professional before.

Is telemedicine private?

Your telemedicine appointment will be private and confidential. The appointment can only be seen and heard by those directly involved.

What about my personal health information?

We understand that your health information is important to you and that it must be protected.

Personal health information is any information that can identify you and link you to the health services that you receive. This includes your name, address, telephone number, health card number, examination or laboratory results, the name of the health professional you will be seeing, and the reason for the visit.

How does OTN protect my personal health information?

OTN uses your personal health information to arrange your telemedicine consultation, inform you of the arrangements made, and to conduct the appointment.

Your consent for the use of this information by OTN is implied when you agree with your referring health professional to have a telemedicine consultation. You may withdraw your consent at any time prior to or during the consultation.

Your personal health information will not be shared with anyone other than those involved in your care without your prior consent, unless OTN is required to do so by law.

OTN uses a variety of physical, administrative and technical methods to protect your personal information including: control access locks, locked drawers and filing cabinets, user ID and passwords, private key encryption software, firewalls, virtual private network hardware and software clients, and a private network over which data and images flow between sites.

Adapted from Ontario Telemedicine Network

Connecting with the Future of Care

Telemedicine Patients