Derostering is something that family medical practices may do when a patient is accessing publicly-covered medical services from another healthcare provider.
When a patient has accessed additional services unavailable at their family practice, de-rostering should not be an issue. Typically, the telemedicine services Maple provides are not available at a family practice. We recommend contacting your family practice directly to inquire about telemedicine policies if you have any concerns.
It’s also helpful to know that de-rostered doesn’t mean “fired” — patients do not lose their family doctor. Instead, de-rostering means they can no longer access the other services at the family health group, such as consultations with clinic dieticians or social workers, or take advantage of special health programs such as diabetes or diet management.
In addition, doctors must work with patients to understand why they sought care outside of their regular family practice and resolve the issue without de-rostering if possible. Doctors must undertake reasonable efforts to resolve the situation in the patient's best interest and provide written notice before officially de-rostering a patient. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) has a resource which outlines these responsibilities, available here.
Maple’s goal is to improve access to healthcare, but not to replace your family physician or existing general practitioner relationship.