How Triage Works

After a referral is received, the following may occur:

Accepted and placed on the waitlist
If the referral is incomplete or unclear, additional information will be requested
Re-directed to an appropriate pathway, with clear re-referral criteria if symptoms evolve

All three outcomes are expected parts of the triage process.

Triage Categories and Targets

Urgent (less than 1 month)

Patients with the following medical conditions will be triaged as urgent, with the goal to book them an appointment within one month. If your patient has a medical emergency, call the office at (250) 824-0266 or have the patient go directly to the emergency room. Our faxes are not monitored during office closures, which can result in delays in care.

Giant cell arteritis
Organ-threatening connective tissue disease or vasculitis

Semi-urgent (3-4 months)

New onset inflammatory arthritis
Ankylosing spondylitis
Non-organ threatening connective tissue disease
Polymyalgia rheumatica
Sarcoidosis
IgG4 related disease

Routine (6-12 months)

Transfer of care from another rheumatologist
Sjogren’s disease
Crystal arthritis (gout, pseudogout)

Common Reasons for Redirection

Referrals may be redirected when:

Patient lives outside our catchment area (details here)
Patient is under the age of 18
There is no joint swelling
The clinical pattern is non-inflammatory
Symptoms fit another disease like osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia
Symptoms are not specific for rheumatic disease. The most common non-specific symptoms are “fatigue”, joint pain/”polyarthralgia” and “rash”
Inflammatory markers are normal
Serology is normal

Redirection is intended to:

Ensure the patient is referred to an appropriate provider
Avoid unnecessary waits
Support reassessment if symptoms evolve

When to Re-Refer

Please re-refer if new or evolving features develop. For inflammatory arthritis, this includes persistent and objective joint swelling, morning stiffness over 60 minutes, rising CRP or ESR and /or positive RF or CCP