Get StartedLog In

Frequently Asked Questions

Select your province below for localized information.
NS
SK
AB
ON
PEI

When should I make a telephone consult?

If you are a family physician or nurse practitioner, and are looking for advice on a patient’s condition and management plan, you can consult with a specialist physician to obtain an expert opinion.

How am I compensated for my consults on Virtual Hallway?

Virtual Hallway meets the requirements of the Medical Services Insurance (MSI) phone consult codes 03.09K and 03.09L.

If you are a fee-for-service provider, please sign the Group Business Arrangement Form in the ‘Verification’ tab of your account. This allows Virtual Hallway to bill MSI on your behalf. Claims must be submitted to MSI within 90 days of the date of service to receive payment and thus, we require you to complete the Form within 60 days from your first consult.

On the first business day of every month, we will transfer your billings to you for consultations completed in the prior month.

How often can I request a consultation?

There is no limit to the number of consultations you can request. We encourage you to consult when you are unsure about a case, or if you need advice. However, MSI will only cover one consult per patient per 14-day period.

When can a consult not be billed to MSI?

MSI does not permit billing when the purpose of the call is to:

• Arrange a patient transfer
• Arrange a hospital bed for a patient
• Arrange a telemedicine consultation for a patient
• Arrange an expedited face-to-face consultation
• Arrange a laboratory, other diagnostic test or procedure
• Inform the referring clinician of the results of a diagnostic test
• Decline the request for a consultation or transfer the request to another clinician

Additionally, 03.09K and 03.09L codes do not apply when:

• The specialist sees the patient face-to-face within 14 days of the call
• The referring physician or nurse practitioner sees the patient virtually on the same day as the consult
• Consulting practitioners are in the same building

We ask that you not use Virtual Hallway for these types of interactions.

Is this confidential?

Yes. All of the communication of personal health information inputted into Virtual Hallway is protected with comprehensive security infrastructure and strict data policies. All personal health information is kept safe, secure and private. This includes:

• All personal health information on Virtual Hallway is stored in a secure Canadian data centre.
• Your data is protected with multiple layers of security, including leading 256-bit AES encryption technology.
• We regularly test our software and servers for security and quality.

Our Privacy Policy describes our commitments to your privacy and security. We want you to understand how your data may be collected and used, and how you can control and manage your privacy.

How quickly can I get a call?

You control that. As part of the consult process, you book the date and time for the phone call with the specialist from a list of available times. Appointments within 24 hours are available, though if you prefer you can book appointments a month ahead of time.

What about emergencies?

Virtual Hallway is not an emergency service. If the patient requires emergent care, they should be directed towards the appropriate emergency service.

Why is the referral form so restrictive?  It seems like a 1 problem per visit model.

Think of Virtual Hallway as a classic hallway chat with a colleague. It is not the place for a full, comprehensive case review, nor the place for development of a full treatment plan. Virtual Hallway is meant to give guidance for next steps in management of a patient’s condition. You can always re-consultif another question arises, or if the prior recommendation was not effective. If a comprehensive consultation is what you are looking for, we suggest making a formal referral to a consultation service. Sometimes the specialist will suggest this to you if the consult question appears to be something that cannot be addressed in the Virtual Hallway model.

Why do I have to sign up?

We need to ensure that all clinicians using the service are licensed to practice medicine.  Consider it our due diligence. We also want to ensure that you get paid for your work, so we need your information so we can bill for your time.  Last, we need you to sign up so we can give you a password to access the consult request form. This ensures that only licensed health care practitioners are using Virtual Hallway.

If you are a clinician licensed to practice family medicine in Nova Scotia, click here to sign up and complete an application.

Once your account is activated, you can send referrals, book your consultation date and time in the calendar.
 The specialist will call you at the prearranged time at the phone number that you provide to discuss the case and provide recommendations.  The specialist will then document the conversation and you will receive a copy of the consult report. You may choose to import the documents into your EMR or paper chart.
 
Virtual Hallway bills MSI for the consultation on the behalf of fee-for-service clinicians who have completed business arrangements with Virtual Hallway.  For information on this process please review the user agreement.

What happens to the patient documents if I decide to cancel my account?

As long as you continue to maintain your account, your documents are safe with us. If you choose to cancel your account, your account and documents will remain available to you for Sixty (60) days, at which point they will be permanently deleted from the system. We will give you multiple notices before this occurs.

Is this confidential?

Yes. All of the communication of personal health information inputted into Virtual Hallway is protected with comprehensive security infrastructure and strict data policies. All personal health information is kept safe, secure and private. This includes:

• All personal health information on Virtual Hallway is stored in a secure Canadian data centre.
• Your data is protected with multiple layers of security, including leading 256-bit AES encryption technology.
• We regularly test our software and servers for security and quality.

Our Privacy Policy describes our commitments to your privacy and security. We want you to understand how your data may be collected and used, and how you can control and manage your privacy.

How often can I request a consultation?

Family doctors and nurse practitioners are not limited in the number of consultations they can request. In fact, we encourage clinicians to consult when they are unsure about a case, or if they need advice. That’s why we are here.

How quickly can I get a call?

You control that. As part of the consult process, you book the date and time for the phone call with the specialist from a list of available times. While specialists adjust the amount of advance notice they require for bookings, appointments within 1 hour are available, though if you prefer you can book appointments a month ahead of time.

What about emergencies?

Virtual Hallway is not an emergency service. If the patient requires emergent care, they should be directed towards the appropriate emergency service.

Why is the referral form so restrictive?  It seems like a 1 problem per visit model.

Think of Virtual Hallway as a classic hallway chat with a colleague. It is not the place for a full, comprehensive case review, nor the place for development of a full treatment plan. Virtual Hallway is meant to give guidance for next steps in management of a patient’s condition. You can always re-consult if another question arises, or if the prior recommendation was not effective. If a comprehensive consultation is what you are looking for, we suggest making a formal referral to a consultation service. Sometimes the specialist will suggest this to you if the consult question appears to be something that cannot be addressed in the Virtual Hallway model.

Why do I have to sign up?

We need to ensure that all clinicians using the service are licensed to practice medicine.  Consider it our due diligence. We also want to ensure that you get paid for your work, so we need your information so we can bill for your time.  Last, we need you to sign up so we can give you a password to access the consult request form. This ensures that only licensed health care practitioners are using Virtual Hallway.

If you are a clinician licensed to practice family medicine in Saskatchewan, click here to sign up and complete an application. Once your account is activated, you can send referrals, book your consultation date and time in the calendar. 
The specialist will call you at the prearranged time at the phone number that you provide to discuss the case and provide recommendations.  The specialist will then document the conversation and you will receive a copy of the consult report. You may choose to import the documents into your EMR or paper chart.

Virtual Hallway bills Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance for the consultation on the behalf of fee-for-service clinicians who have completed business arrangements with Virtual Hallway.  For information on this process please review the user agreement.

How am I compensated for my consults on Virtual Hallway?

Virtual Hallway is designed to meet the requirements for phone consult code 769A and as a result, every consult done through Virtual Hallway can be compensated through billing Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance. Fee for service Specialists sign a Physician Registry Update Form with Virtual Hallway which allows us to bill on your behalf. At the end of every month, we will transfer your billings to you.

Do Virtual Hallway consults meet the requirements for phone consult codes?

We have set things up to enable required information for billing code 769A is present in the documentation so that you have your ducks in a row in the event of an audit. There are some requirements for 769A codes:

  • Pertinent family history
  • Patient history
  • History of presenting complaint
  • Discussion with referring clinician of functional enquiry and examination of all parts and systems
  • Review of laboratory and/or other data
  • Diagnosis/assessment; and,
  • Record and written submission of the consultant’s opinion and recommendations to the referring doctor, but without consulting or seeing the patient.
  • If the patient is subsequently seen within 42 days for assessment, the clinician would be unable to claim for a consultation, but could claim for a complete or initial assessment depending on the service provided.

What happens to the patient documents if I decide to cancel my account?

As long as you continue to maintain your account, your documents are safe with us. If you choose to cancel your account, your account and documents will remain available to you for Sixty (60) days, at which point they will be permanently deleted from the system. We will give you multiple notices before this occurs.

When should I make a telephone consult?

If you are a primary care physician, nurse practitioner, midwife, or podiatric surgeon, and are looking for advice on a patient’s condition or management plan, you can consult with a specialist physician more experienced in treating the particular problem in question.

How am I compensated for my consults on Virtual Hallway?

Virtual Hallway meets the requirements of the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) phone consult codes 03.01LG-J.

If you are a fee-for-service provider, please sign the Business Arrangement Request Form in the ‘Verification’ tab of your account. This allows Virtual Hallway to bill AHCIP on your behalf. Claims must be submitted to AHCIP within 90 days of the date of service to receive payment and thus, we require you to complete the Form within 60 days from your first consult.

On the first business day of every month, we will transfer your billings to you for consultations completed in the prior month.

How often can I request a consultation?

There is no limit to the number of consultations you can request. We encourage you to consult when you are unsure about a case, or if you need advice. However, the AHCIP will only cover a maximum of two claims per patient, per clinician, per day.

What type of consults are excluded from 03.01LG AHCIP?

AHCIP does not permit billing when the purpose of the call is to:

• Arrange for an expedited consultation or procedure within 24 hours
• Arrange for laboratory or diagnostic investigations
• Discuss or inform the referring physician or podiatric surgeon of results of diagnostic investigations

Additionally, 03.01LG-J codes do not apply when:

• The consultant physician completes a major consultation or procedure for the patient for the same condition within 24 hours

We ask that you not use Virtual Hallway for these types of interactions.

Is this confidential?

Yes. All of the communication of personal health information inputted into Virtual Hallway is protected with comprehensive security infrastructure and strict data policies. All personal health information is kept safe, secure and private. This includes:

• All personal health information on Virtual Hallway is stored in a secure Canadian data centre.
• Your data is protected with multiple layers of security, including leading 256-bit AES encryption technology.
• We regularly test our software and servers for security and quality.

Our Privacy Policy describes our commitments to your privacy and security. We want you to understand how your data may be collected and used, and how you can control and manage your privacy.

How quickly can I get a call?

You control that. As part of the consult process, you book the date and time for the phone call with the specialist from a list of available times. While specialists adjust the amount of advance notice they require for bookings, appointments within 1 hour are available, though if you prefer you can book appointments a month ahead of time.

What about emergencies?

Virtual Hallway is not an emergency service. If the patient requires emergent care, they should be directed towards the appropriate emergency service.

Why is the referral form so restrictive?  It seems like a 1 problem per visit model.

Think of Virtual Hallway as a classic hallway chat with a colleague. It is not the place for a full, comprehensive case review, nor the place for development of a full treatment plan. Virtual Hallway is meant to give guidance for next steps in management of a patient’s condition. You can always re-consult if another question arises, or if the prior recommendation was not effective. If a comprehensive consultation is what you are looking for, we suggest making a formal referral to a consultation service. Sometimes the specialist will suggest this to you if the consult question appears to be something that cannot be addressed in the Virtual Hallway model.

Why do I have to sign up?

We need to ensure that all clinician using the service are licensed to practice medicine.  Consider it our due diligence. We also want to ensure that you get paid for your work, so we need your information so we can bill for your time.  Last, we need you to sign up so we can give you a password to access the consult request form. This ensures that only licensed health care practitioners are using Virtual Hallway.

If you are a clinician or nurse practitioner licensed to practice in Alberta, click here  to sign up and complete an application. Once your account is activated, you can send consult requests, book your consultation date and time in the calendar.
 The specialist will call you at the prearranged time at the phone number that you provide to discuss the case and provide recommendations.  The specialist will then document the conversation and you will receive a copy of the consult report. You may choose to import the documents into your EMR or paper chart.
 
Virtual Hallway bills Alberta Health Services for the consultation on the behalf of fee-for-service clinicians who have completed business arrangements with Virtual Hallway.  For information on this process please review the user agreement.

What happens to the patient documents if I decide to cancel my account?

As long as you continue to maintain your account, your documents are safe with us. If you choose to cancel your account, your account and documents will remain available to you for Sixty (60) days, at which point they will be permanently deleted from the system. We will give you multiple notices before this occurs.

When should I make a telephone consult?

If you are a primary care physician, nurse practitioner, and are looking for advice on a patient’s condition or management plan, you can consult with a specialist physician to receive their recommendation.

How am I compensated for my consults on Virtual Hallway?

Virtual Hallway meets the requirements of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) phone consult codes K730 and K731.

If you are a fee-for-service provider, please sign the Authorization for Group Payment Form in the ‘Verification’ tab of your account. This allows Virtual Hallway to bill OHIP on your behalf. Claims must be submitted to OHIP within 90 days of the date of service to receive payment and thus, we require you to complete the Form within 60 days from your first consult.

On the first business day of every month, we will transfer your billings to you for consultations completed in the prior month.

How often can I request a consultation?

There is no limit to the number of consultations you can request. We encourage you to consult when you are unsure about a case, or if you need advice.

When can a consult not be billed to OHIP?

OHIP does not permit billing when the purpose of the call is to:

• Transfer care from one doctor to another
• Discuss a diagnosis (a clear recommendation or opinion from the cosnsultant must result from the call)

Additionally, K730 and K731 codes do not apply when:

• The phone consultation leads to a direct patient consultation or assessment by the consultant physician either the same or next day

Is this confidential?

Yes. All of the communication of personal health information inputted into Virtual Hallway is protected with comprehensive security infrastructure and strict data policies. All personal health information is kept safe, secure and private. This includes:

• All personal health information on Virtual Hallway is stored in a secure Canadian data centre.
• Your data is protected with multiple layers of security, including leading 256-bit AES encryption technology.
• We regularly test our software and servers for security and quality.

Our Privacy Policy describes our commitments to your privacy and security. We want you to understand how your data may be collected and used, and how you can control and manage your privacy.

How quickly can I get a call?

You control that. As part of the consult process, you book the date and time for the phone call with the specialist from a list of available times. Appointments within 24 hours are available, though if you prefer you can book appointments a month ahead of time.

What about emergencies?

Virtual Hallway is not an emergency service. If the patient requires emergent care, they should be directed towards the appropriate emergency service.

Why is the referral form so restrictive?  It seems like a 1 problem per visit model.

Think of Virtual Hallway as a classic hallway chat with a colleague. It is not the place for a full, comprehensive case review, nor the place for development of a full treatment plan. Virtual Hallway is meant to give guidance for next steps in management of a patient’s condition. You can always re-consult if another question arises, or if the prior recommendation was not effective. If a comprehensive consultation is what you are looking for, we suggest making a formal referral to a consultation service. Sometimes the specialist will suggest this to you if the consult question appears to be something that cannot be addressed in the Virtual Hallway model.

Why do I have to sign up?

We need to ensure that all clinicians using the service are licensed to practice medicine.  Consider it our due diligence. We also want to ensure that you get paid for your work, so we need your information so we can bill for your time.  Last, we need you to sign up so we can give you a password to access the consult request form. This ensures that only licensed health care practitioners are using Virtual Hallway.

If you are a clinician or nurse practitioner licensed to practice in Ontario, click here to sign up and complete an application. Once your account is activated, you can send referrals, book your consultation date and time in the calendar. 

The specialist will call you at the prearranged time at the phone number that you provide to discuss the case and provide recommendations.  The specialist will then document the conversation and you will receive a copy of the consult report. You may choose to import the documents into your EMR or paper chart.

Virtual Hallway bills OHIP for the consultation on the behalf of fee-for-service clinicians who have completed business arrangements with Virtual Hallway.  For information on this process please review the user agreement.

What happens to the patient documents if I decide to cancel my account?

As long as you continue to maintain your account, your documents are safe with us. If you choose to cancel your account, your account and documents will remain available to you for Sixty (60) days, at which point they will be permanently deleted from the system. We will give you multiple notices before this occurs.

When should I make a telephone consult?

If you are a family physician or nurse practitioner and are looking for advice on a patient’s condition and management plan, you can consult with a specialist physician to obtain an expert opinion.

How am I compensated for my consults on Virtual Hallway?

Virtual Hallway meets the requirements of Health PEI’s phone consult code 0128: Physician-to-Physician Communication. If you are the consulting physician and a fee-for-service provider, you can submit a claim to Health PEI. There is so fee code for the referring physician.The criteria for these codes are built into Virtual Hallway’s platform:

1. May be reported for a two-way communication between a referring physician or nurse practitioner and a consulting physician regarding the assessment and management of a patient without the consulting physician having to see the patient
2. The consulting physician may be a specialist or a designated family physician with specialized training who will provide their expert opinion upon hearing the referring physician’s request.
3. All interactions must be documented in the patient’s chart or in a consulting letter to the referring physician, including the referring physicians’ request, the discussion of the clinical problem, the medical advice given and the change in the patient’s treatment and/or management, if necessary.
4. The consulting physician has provided an opinion and/or recommendation for patient treatment and/or management and documented the interaction.

*For more information, please reference Tariff 21 of the Master Agreement:
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/sites/default/files/publications/master_agreement.pdf

How often can I request a consultation?

There is no limit to the number of consultations you can request. We encourage you to consult when you are unsure about a case, or if you need advice.

When can a consult not be billed to Health PEI?

This service cannot be billed if the consulting physician sees the patient and bills a consultation within three days of the telephone consultation.

Is this confidential?

Yes. All of the communication of personal health information inputted into Virtual Hallway is protected with comprehensive security infrastructure and strict data policies. All personal health information is kept safe, secure and private. This includes:

• All personal health information on Virtual Hallway is stored in a secure Canadian data centre.
• Your data is protected with multiple layers of security, including leading 256-bit AES encryption technology.
• We regularly test our software and servers for security and quality.

Our Privacy Policy describes our commitments to your privacy and security. We want you to understand how your data may be collected and used, and how you can control and manage your privacy.

How quickly can I get a call?

You control that. As part of the consult process, you book the date and time for the phone call with the specialist from a list of available times. Appointments within 24 hours are available, though if you prefer you can book appointments a month ahead of time.

What about emergencies?

Virtual Hallway is not an emergency service. If the patient requires emergency care, they should be directed towards the appropriate emergency service.

Why is the referral form so restrictive?  It seems like a 1 problem per visit model.

Think of Virtual Hallway as a classic hallway chat with a colleague. It is not the place for a full, comprehensive case review, nor the place for development of a full treatment plan. Virtual Hallway is meant to give guidance for next steps in management of a patient’s condition. You can always re-consult if another question arises, or if the prior recommendation was not effective. If a comprehensive consultation is what you are looking for, we suggest making a formal referral to a consultation service. Sometimes the specialist will suggest this to you if the consult question appears to be something that cannot be addressed in the Virtual Hallway model.

Why do I have to sign up?

We need to ensure that all clinicians using the service are licensed to practice medicine.  Consider it our due diligence. We also want to ensure that you get paid for your work, so we need your information so we can bill for your time.  Last, we need you to sign up so we can give you a password to access the consult request form. This ensures that only licensed health care practitioners are using Virtual Hallway.

If you are a clinician licensed to practice in Prince Edward Island, click here to sign up and complete an application. Once your account is activated, you can send referrals, book your consultation date and time in the calendar. 

The specialist will call you at the prearranged time at the phone number that you provide to discuss the case and provide recommendations.  The specialist will then document the conversation and you will receive a copy of the consult report. You may choose to import the documents into your EMR or paper chart.

What happens to the patient documents if I decide to cancel my account?

As long as you continue to maintain your account, your documents are safe with us. If you choose to cancel your account, your account and documents will remain available to you for Sixty (60) days, at which point they will be permanently deleted from the system. We will give you multiple notices before this occurs.

We make specialist phone consults easy and accessible

Register now
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram