Last updated: October 30, 2024

HealthLink BC's physician services provide confidential health information and advice. HealthLink BC's physician services are provided by doctors from throughout the province. They can help you stay healthy, get better, manage chronic conditions and seek further treatment, if needed.

HealthLink BC physician services are available to 8-1-1 callers after assessment by one of our Registered Nurses. A nurse will determine if further medical assessment by a doctor would help you get the best advice on when and where you should seek care. They may refer you to your family doctor or nurse practitioner, a health provider in your community or or HealthLink BC physician services.

8-1-1 virtual physician consults are available by phone or by video, seven days a week between 9 am to 11 pm PT (upon referral by a Registered Nurse).

Physician by phone

If the nurse has referred you to a physician, one of our medical office assistants will help connect you to a telephone medical consult. Depending on the urgency of your condition, the assistant will work with you to ensure you receive a call from a physician as soon as possible. The assistant will confirm your contact information prior to hanging up. The physician will then call you back directly at the time of your appointment.

Helpful tips to optimize your telephone consult experience:

• Choose a distraction-free, private location
• Have a pen and paper ready to take notes
• Ensure your device is charged

When you receive the phone call from the doctor for your consultation or follow-up, it may come from an area code such as 646 or 212, or another North American city, like New York. Our doctors live and work in British Columbia but the phone call may be routed through any city. Please be assured your personal information remains in Canada.

Physician by video

When speaking with a physician, you or the physician may feel a video call would be desirable. When our medical office assistants refer you to a physician, you will receive an email with a Zoom videoconferencing meeting link, and instructions on how to set up and be ready for the Zoom video consult. The physician will work with you to open the videoconferencing session.

Set up the meeting before your video consult

Install and test the Zoom app on your device. You can skip this step if you already have Zoom installed.

• From a PC or Mac click or tap join from your browser link to test your audio and video connection
• From an iOS or Android device go to Google Play/Apple Store to download and install the Zoom app, then click or tap the Join a Test Meeting link to test your audio and video connection

If Zoom is not working, refer to the Zoom Computer or Zoom Mobile requirements.

To join the video consult

• Click on the Zoom Meeting link in the email
• The doctor will call you at the scheduled consult time and provide a unique code to enter into Zoom. Entering this code will admit you to the consult. You may also hear from the medical office assistant to confirm you are ready
• Click the Join Audio and Start Video icons
• You will be placed in a virtual waiting room until the physician admits you into the video consult
• In the video consult, to mute or unmute your microphone or to start or stop your video, click on the icons located in the bottom left corner of your screen. When clicked or tapped, the microphone icon will mute and unmute sounds, and the video icon will turn on and off your camera
• If at any time during a video consult you feel uncomfortable, let the physician know and we can contact you by phone or refer you to services in your community
• When your consult is over, visit the HealthLink BC Virtual Physician Service Survey: Your Experience to share your feedback. The survey will take just 5 minutes and help improve the experience for future 8-1-1 callers

Helpful tips for getting ready for your video consult:

• Choose a well-lit, distraction-free, private location
• Have a pen and paper ready to take notes
• Ensure your mobile device is charged
• If available, use a wired connection to the Internet or Wi-Fi to avoid extra data charges

Take these steps to make sure your video consult is secure

Your privacy is important to us. Similar to a face-to-face visit, your identity will be confirmed and your information will be kept confidential. Visits will not be recorded. We confirm your email address before sending you the Video Consult invitation.

There are also a few safe online practices you can do to help ensure your consult is secure:

• Use password protected Wi-Fi, not public Wi-Fi
• Use anti-malware and antivirus software
• Download applications only from trusted sources
• Ensure your Zoom application is up-to-date

We use a healthcare version of Zoom that is compliant with Province of British Columbia privacy laws. Servers are located in Canada to ensure data stays in Canada. Audio, video and messages are encrypted and the application is configured to ensure security best practices are followed.