Ask Dr. Day

Please remember to bring your personal health care card along with photo identification when you arrive at our office. Showing your personal health care card and photo identification, proves your identity and ensures eligible patients receive publicly-funded health services.  If you do not bring your personal health care card we will bill you directly.

In Alberta a visit to the dermatologist is an insured health service. All that is required is a referral from another physician (usually your family physician) and your provincial health care card.

If your skin care questions are regarding cosmetic treatment options such as laser hair removal, botox and filler injections, anti-aging procedures, cosmetic mole removal, skin care products or other non-insured services you may book directly with our clinic with no referral required. This is because these services are not billed to the publically-funded health service.

Innovation Dermatology has a wide selection of excellent skin care products. Many of these products contain active ingredients that are best utilized after a comprehensive skin consultation. We recommend you speak with our knowledgable staff prior to starting a skin care routine. If you would like to stop by and review the available products at the office we would be happy to assist you. Another option for patients already on a treatment routine would be to call the office to re-order product. Your order can then be picked up at your convenience. If you have any questions about the skin care products we carry you may call and book a consultation or drop by the office for more information.

A cosmetic consultation can be booked by calling our office. We recommend you prepare for this consultation by thinking about what specific issues or concerns you may have about your skin. Open and honest communication is essential to ensure the result you want to achieve. Some individuals prefer a very conservative approach to cosmetic treatments, with subtle results that build over time. However, others would be disappointed with this slow approach and want to see dramatic results right away. In both cases, communication between patients and our team is critical to produce the results you are looking for. We will then work with you to create a customized skin care plan to address your specific needs. All treatment plans will be reviewed with Dr. Day. Honesty and integrity are part of our core values. We will only recommend treatments or products that we know will benefit our patients.

The Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan, provides Alberta residents and those with Health Care Insurance Plans with other provinces (excluding Quebec) full coverage for medically necessary procedures. These services are submitted to the Insurance plan on behalf of the patient after the clinic visit. The patient is not required to pay any additional fee. Some health services are deemed medically unnecessary. In this instance the patient would be informed of an incurring cost for these services prior to receiving the treatment. Examples of non-insured services we provide are cyst removal, cosmetic mole and skin tag removal.

We care about you, and your time.

Your time is just as valuable as ours. Because we believe this, we work to stay on schedule. Occasionally this becomes challenging. We ask for your patience as we work to provide high quality care for all of our patients in Central Alberta.

Why do we experience delays? A variety of circumstances can arise that impact the clinic schedule. These include emergencies referred to us from a hospital and other clinics for same day consultation, or a patient whose needs require that we spend more time than anticipated, such as a language barrier or a distressing diagnosis.

Is this clinic right for you? You are in the right place if you are seeking:

• Expert skin care, supervised by Central Alberta’s only full time dermatologist
• Individual care and attention from staff who listen to and have the expertise to respond to your needs

Our desire and intent is to treat you with respect and provide high quality care for each patient.

In circumstances where you have questions regarding issues that you have not been referred for we may book you for another visit.

In an effort to improve patient access to dermatology services in Central Alberta we have initiated an automated phone service for clinic visits. It is hoped that this service will not only assist our patients in remembering their appointments amidst the hustle and bustle of life, but will also help us to reduce patient wait times.

To promote efficient access to our clinic, we require that any appointment that is no longer needed or unable to be kept be cancelled with advanced notice. Cancellations must be made between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30p.m. on workdays at least one full business day before the scheduled appointment. Cancellations must be done over the telephone by speaking directly to one of our scheduling professionals. Patients will not be charged for an office visit if a cancellation is made 24 hours before their appointment.

In the event an appointment is missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours notice or no notice, a $50 charge will be billed for a clinic visit or a $200 fee will be billed for a missed surgical appointment. If a second no-show or same day cancellation occurs, we reserve the right to not rebook a patient.

This policy is in effect for all appointments at our office, including medical, cosmetic and surgical appointments. We want to thank our patients for their courtesy. We appreciate that the vast majority of our patients call with advance notice to allow us to rebook, reschedule and fill appointment times that are no longer needed.

We generally recommend that patients expect to be at the office for around 60-90 minutes for an appointment. Exceptions to this include surgical appointments and cosmetic treatments involving surgery, microneedling, resurfacing lasers, scar treatment or skin tightening procedures that often will take longer than 2 hours.  We also recommend you avoid scheduling back to back appointments.

In an effort to maintain a clean and hygienic facility we have a no shoe policy year round. As we are a non-hospital surgical facility it is imperative to keep the highest standards of cleanliness. Multiple studies have shown large amounts of bacteria on the outside of shoes that are common sources for wound and skin infections. Shoes also track in dirt and mud resulting in unhygienic examining rooms. So please bring a comfortable pair of socks or slippers for your visit.