If you have been diagnosed with a serious illness, or a serious illness is suspected, you simply call the Best Doctors Member Care Centre at
1-877-419-BEST (2378).
You’ll be connected to a Member Advocate, a Registered Nurse, who will be dedicated to your case throughout the entire process. Your medical condition will be reviewed thoroughly, and your diagnosis and treatment plans verified. You do not have to leave home or incur any additional costs.
You may also call Best Doctors if you need help navigating the healthcare system or have questions about your healthcare. Our
Best Doctors 360° service provides access to resources, ongoing one-on-one support, customized health coaching and a wide range of health related information, whether you have a serious illness or not.
One call sets it in motion
If a member is uncertain of a diagnosis or has questions about their treatment plan they may contact Best Doctors. One call sets it all in motion. The Best Doctors member simply picks up the phone and dials our toll free number and they will be connected to a Member Advocate, a Registered Nurse, who will determine the level of service the member requires. The Member Advocate will be dedicated to the member’s case and will support them throughout the process.
The Best Doctors Member Advocate will interview the member to collect a detailed medical history and answer the member’s questions. This same Member Advocate stays with the member throughout their entire interaction with Best Doctors.
The member is asked to sign a release, permitting Best Doctors to work with the member’s treating doctors and facilities to collect all of the pertinent medical information in the member’s case. This includes medical records, imaging studies, test results, treatment plans, surgical reports, or whatever else is available. If pathology specimens have been taken, Best Doctors collect these as well, to re-stain and re-analyze them at a Centre of Excellence. The entire InterConsultation process is completed without the member ever having to leave home or incur any additional cost.
Medical records are collected
The collected medical records are digitized and securely encrypted, creating an electronic record of the member’s medical information.
A multidisciplinary team of Harvard-trained physicians then review the material in rigorous detail. This team is tasked with:
1) identifying the important issues in the case;
2) distilling the specifics of the case into a detailed Clinical Summary;
3) generating specific questions about the key issues in the case; and
4) recommending the particular specialty and experience of the Best Doctors specialist required to consult on the case.
The Best Doctors team then searches its proprietary global network of 50,000 world renowned peer-nominated physicians to identify a physician best suited to review the case. The physicians in the Best Doctors network have been identified by their peers as being “exceptional” in their specialty areas.
In-depth file review
The Best Doctors expert(s) retained for the case performs a thorough analysis and answers the questions posed, writing up a report of their findings and recommendations. The entire package is sent to the member and their treating physician. The Member Advocate follows up with the member to explain the findings of the report and if appropriate, the Best Doctors Medical Director speaks directly with the treating physician.
The InterConsultation Report serves as a clinical roadmap tailored to the member’s individual case. The Member Advocate is always available to the member even after treatment decisions are made and to address any new issues that may arise in the course of treatment. The Member Advocate regularly checks in with members at major milestones to determine how the member’s care is progressing. Additional InterConsultations may be initiated if there are changes in the member’s medical condition or a new unrelated illness presents itself.
Working collaboratively with treating physicians
Rather than replacing the traditional physician-patient relationship, the goal of Best Doctors is to work collaboratively with the member’s treating physician – to provide access to the best medical information available, additional resources and the uniquely educative interaction with top specialists that may not otherwise be available.
Best Doctors acts as a member’s advocate. We have the time to answer questions about their healthcare, to help them understand medical terms and to help them assess sometimes confusing test results or competing advice. By providing these services, Best Doctors can save the treating team valuable time. In today’s complex healthcare environment, it is more important than ever that patients are as knowledgeable as possible about their illness in order that they can actively participate in their treatment decisions.