Referral Information for Veterinarians

For 2023, my mobile coverage area has changed.  Hospitals located within the Halifax Regional Municipality, Chester Basin and Truro are within the mobile coverage area.  I am unable to offer mobile consultations outside of these areas at this time.  Additional information on the mobile coverage area is available here.

For 2023, my mobile coverage area has changed and I currently provide cardiology coverage to approximately 55% of the veterinary hospitals located within the province. My area of coverage is focused on hospitals located within the Halifax Regional Municipality and Truro.  I am unable to offer mobile consultations outside of these areas at this time.  This change was required to reduce appointment wait times by offering more appointment options within the HRM where the largest concentration of clinics are located.

For hospitals located outside of my mobile coverage region, I recommend referral to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the Atlantic Veterinary Cardiology as they have a full-service cardiology service.

For owner present evaluations, I will meet and discuss the results with the client following the echocardiogram.  Please keep in mind a total of 1 hour is allocated for these appointments.   For drop off evaluations, I do NOT meet with the client.  Results are sent to the referring veterinarian for discussion of results with the pet owner.  

Please note – I allocate time differently for drop off versus owner present evaluations.  Therefore, I may NOT have time to meet with the client if the appointment was originally scheduled as a drop off evaluation.  If you wish to change the appointment time after scheduling, please contact me immediately to see if I can accommodate your request.

If an owner wishes to be physically present during the echocardiogram – this can be arranged for owner consultation appointments as long as there is sufficient space to accommodate everyone (staff member who is providing restraint, etc.). 

You may view a list of your confirmed scheduled appointments by logging in to the appointment portal at:

https://coastalheartvet.use2.ezyvet.com/external/portal/main/login

You can also cancel scheduled appointments through the portal.  If you do not have a login for the hospital, please contact me via email.

I do my best to accommodate patients as soon as possible but please understand I provide service to a large portion of Nova Scotia veterinarians which may limit my ability to accommodate all appointment requests in a timely manner.  If you have a patient who would like to be placed on my cancellation list for a sooner availability, please contact me by email.   You can also add a note to be added to the cancellation list on the appointment request form.

To avoid me being late for other scheduled appointments, if a pet owner is 15 minutes late for an owner present evaluation or 30 minutes late for a drop off evaluation, I will require re-scheduling of the appointment to the next available appointment time.  This is to keep an on-time arrival for other appointments scheduled that day.  If a pet owner is late multiple times (2+), please contact me to discuss scheduling of future appointments as I will only accommodate future appointments as drop off evaluations and will have the hospital call to confirm that the patient is in the hospital before I travel to the clinic. Please note, the patient may have to stay in hospital for several hours before I am able to travel to the clinic.

At this time, cancellation fees are not charged.  I ask for as much notice as possible for appointment cancellation so the appointment time can be offered to another patient on my cancellation list.  If a pet owner cancels multiple times (2+), please contact me to discuss scheduling of future appointments as I will only accommodate future appointments as drop off evaluations and will have the hospital call to confirm that the patient is in the hospital before I travel to the clinic. Please note, the patient may have to stay in hospital for several hours before I am able to travel to the clinic.

I understand that no show appointments do happen.  If a clinic has multiple (3+) no show appointments where I have travelled to the clinic, a deposit will be required for future cardiology bookings.  I send reminder emails to the hospital for all appointments at least 3 days prior to the consultation.

It is the responsibility of the clinic to remove the Holter unit (24 hours after application).  Mailing of the Holter unit/jacket back to ECVC is the responsibility of the clinic or the pet owner.  The Holter fee does not cover mailing the unit back to ECVC.  I ask that Holter monitors be sent back using Canada Post to:  East Coast Veterinary Cardiology, PO Box 44042 Bedford Place Mall, Bedford NS, B4A 3X5

If sedation is required to complete a cardiac evaluation, this is the responsibility of the referring veterinarian.  I can provide guidance for sedation prior to the appointment.  Due to time limitations, if a patient is unable to be evaluated during the time allotted for the appointment due to sedation requirement, the appointment will need to be rescheduled to the next available appointment time.  If you are concerned about sedation requirements for your patient, please contact me via email to schedule the appointment so I can allocate sufficient time for the appointment.  Please note the next available appointment time may be 2-3 months later, so please plan accordingly if you feel your patient will require sedation (be prepared to sedate prior to the evaluation to avoid a delay).

I encourage the use of gabapentin for all cat evaluations as it will often alleviate the requirement for additional sedation.  A general dosage is 100 mg/cat 1-2 hours prior to the evaluation.  For particularly anxious cats, 100 mg/cat can also be given the night before the appointment.  Particularly anxious/fractious cats may require a higher dosage – please use your discretion for dosing.

I will require the assistance of a staff member for approximately 15-20 minutes/patient to complete the cardiac evaluation.  Please keep this in mind when scheduling cardiology appointments.  If a staff member will not be available for more than 30 minutes into the scheduled appointment time, the appointment will need to be rescheduled to the next available appointment time to avoid being late for other scheduled appointments.

Cardiology reports are generally available to the referring veterinarian within 24 hours of the evaluation.  They are sent to the email address on file.  Please contact me immediately if your email address changes or if you do not receive a report within 24 hours.  If you need a report to be re-sent, please contact me via email.

As the VCPR is between you and your client, it is the responsibility of the requesting/referring veterinarian to prescribe the medications that are recommended following the cardiology consultation.  Per NSVMA guidelines, I cannot prescribe medications for your client as I do not have a VCPR with your client.

I provide complete cardiac evaluations (echocardiography, electrocardiography, Holter monitors, blood pressure).  I am not able to provide ultrasonography of the abdomen or other thoracic structures.

An updated price list for 2023 has been sent to the clinic.  Please contact me if you have not received an updated price list.  The fees to clients are at your discretion to cover your costs associated with the referral.

I will NOT discuss your fees with your client for pet owner consultations.  Please provide the client with an estimate PRIOR to the evaluation or have a staff member discuss the costs the day of the appointment.  

An invoice will be sent to the hospital for each patient evaluated with payment expected within 30 days of the service.  I prefer payment by cheque or Interac E-Transfer (sent to info@eastcoastheartvet.ca with the invoice number in the comments) but can accommodate credit card payments.  Credit card payments cannot be taken over the phone. Please contact me for payment by credit card and information will be provided on how you can make a payment online through my website (payments are processed through Paypal).  

If a clinic owes invoices that are 30 days or more past due, any scheduled appointments for the clinic may be cancelled.  Future appointments can only be rescheduled once all overdue invoices are paid in full.  If a clinic is repeatedly late with payment, prepayment for future consultations may be required or future referral service may be refused.