Am I an Urgent Patient?

We think that every injury and concern matters. However, during this stressful time that we are sharing together, Leading Edge is taking a proactive approach to ensuring that those patients who need urgent care are still looked after. As our other colleagues are working through this situation as well, our professional regulatory body has confirmed that we must do our best to ensure that those patients who are in need, receive care. Over the next few weeks, we are keeping our physical clinic locations available only to those people who require urgent care.

Following that, we will use a priority model to ensure that those who need care, can be seen in our clinics respecting a new level of physical distancing and enhanced infection control measures. There will be a limited number of appointments available during this time.

When you call for your assessment, you will be asked a series of questions.

The first questions, after we ask you your name, will be:

1. Do you consider your condition to be urgent.
2. Is your injury or condition the result of surgery?
3. Is your injury acute in nature?

If you consider your condition to be urgent or answer yes to the above, we will take additional measures that will allow us to triage and prioritize urgent patients. One of our physiotherapists will be in contact with you to assist in that triage and arrange an appointment.

What do we consider urgent?

To us, everybody’s pain is urgent. That said, we are limiting the number of beds in use and patients in the clinic to enforce strict physical distancing measures. As a result, we will only have the capacity to see so many patients. To that end, our priority patients will be based on the answers to a few questions and our professional judgment with the below in mind:

• In the absence of physiotherapy services, are you likely to seek health-care services in an urgent care or emergency department setting?
• In the absence of physiotherapy services, is your condition likely to deteriorate to the point of requiring more invasive management by another health-care professional in the near- or medium-term future?
• Is the presenting complaint the result of an acute injury, such as a motor vehicle accident?
• Are you unable to work due to their injury, whether that injury is WCB compensable or not?
• Is your injury such that you would not be able to carry out your work as an essential service provider? (Nurse, Physician, Paramedic, Police Officer etc.)
• Is the patient seeking services related to a recent surgery or removal of a cast/other immobilizer?
• Is the patient’s condition significantly or severely impairing their ability to complete their activities of daily living or provide care to another individual, and if so, is their condition one that is amenable to active physiotherapy treatment?
• Are you taking medication that is no longer successfully managing your pain levels such that you can carry out your day to day activities?

Give us a call. Our phone lines and answering machines are on. We are here for you Alberta in one manner or another.

Those patients who have concerns about attending, are medically fragile, at risk of complications from a respiratory infection or are physically unable to attend our clinic in person can access our Tele-Medicine Program.