QUANTA COMMUNICABLE DISEASE PROTOCOLS
At Quanta we take your health and wellbeing seriously. We communicable disease policies and procedures in place to minimize the risk of illness for our patients and therapists and also to ensure we are compliant with our regulatory body’s requirements. This plan was developed with the goal of reducing the risk of exposure to the communicable disease for patients and the practitioners within our clinical setting.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE POLICIES
If any patients have signs or symptoms associated with communicable disease you are required to cancel your appointment. You are required to self assess and ensure you are not entering the clinic with any signs or symptoms of a communicable disease. We expect patients to cancel appointments online prior to their appointment if they develop signs and symptoms of a communicable disease. If you have symptoms 2-3 days prior to your appointment you are expected to cancel your appointment and not wait until the day of your appointment to see if your symptoms subside. You can cancel appointments online if it is more than 24 hours before your schedueled appointment. This can be done by logging into your account or clicking the link in the booking or reminder email. In the event that you develop symptoms on the day of your appointment and need to cancel your appointment with less than 24 hours notice please contact your therapist directly or email the clinic to cancel. We also request that you cancel appointments if you are COVID positive and asymptomatic. If you arrive at the clinic with symptoms you will be asked to leave and we will reschedule the appointment.
If therapists are experiencing any cold and flu symptom they will contact their patients to cancel appointments and will not come to the clinic if they are symptomatic.
MASKS ARE NOT REQUIRED AT QUANTA
Mask are no longer required in clinical settings as per our regulatory bodies guidelines. We do however respect your personal choice to wear a mask at the clinic. If you prefer to wear a mask throughout your appointment please bring your own clean 3 ply mask to the clinic to be worn during treatment. Your therapist will also wear a mask throughout the duration of your appointment if requested.
APPOINTMENT PROTOCOLS
If you are a new patient please ensure that the digital form that was sent to your email address on file is filled in prior to your appointment time. Please see new patient information for details.
We ask that you arrive at the clinic 5 minutes prior to your appointment time. This will help to minimize the number of patients in the clinic waiting room. We are attempting to limit the number of people in the clinic at any point in time. If you arrive early please wait in your vehicle. If you are walking or taking transit please arrive as close to your appointment time as possible.
HAND HYGIENE PROTOCOLS
Patients are required to use hand sanitizer when entering the clinic prior to touching any surfaces, after touching their phone and when leaving the clinic. Alternatively if patients are not comfortable using hand sanitizer when entering the clinic they will be required to wash their hands with soap and water. We have a sink in the reception area and touchless hand soap dispensers for your convenience.
CLINICIANS RESPONSABILITIES
All therapists and staff at Quanta will adhere to strict hand hygiene protocols. Therapists will ensure that they are washing their hands with soap and water when entering the clinic, prior to all treatments, post treatments, before and after eating/drinking, after using the washroom and regularly throughout the day. The therapists will adhere to the hand washing protocols as outlined by our regulatory body, the CDC, WHO and the government. Therapists will be using the hand sanitizer in the treatment room as recommended.
We have adjusted our schedules and staggered our appointment times to minimize the number of patients in the clinic at one time as well as to minimize contact with other patients.
SANITIZATION AND DISINFECTING AT THE CLINIC
We will continue to adhere to strict standards set out by our regulatory body and Vancouver Coastal Health pertaining to health and cleanliness. All therapists and staff will adhere to all health, safety and sanitation protocols outlined by the government, our regulatory body and work safe BC. We have always done this in order to protect both our patients and our therapists. We have a very diverse patient base that includes immune compromised patients, auto-immune patients and patients with various health conditions, so we have always maintained strict sanitation policies and procedures in order to accommodate those patients.
Treatment areas will continue to be sanitized between sessions and we will continue to change all linens and follow proper hand washing protocols. We will also continue with our sanitation procedures pertaining to high touch surfaces.
The clinic environment will be regularly disinfected throughout the day as required by our governing body. We will be using approved disinfectants and sanitizers.
Massage tables, chairs, stools and treatment supplies will be sanitized / disinfected after each treatment. Frequently touched surfaces will be sanitized / disinfected multiple times per day. Specific sanitizer for the table is provided and will be used on the stools, vinyl cover on the tables and on the steri pillows between each patients.
Linens, blankets, pillowcases and all single use items will be washed as per industry requirements. Please note that all items including blankets are single use and will immediately be put in the laundry after use. All linens are changed for every patient.
Thermophores are no longer allowed at this time due to CMT regulations; however, we have table warmers underneath a vinyl table protector that can be turned on for patients if they get cold. The vinyl table protector will be sanitized / disinfected after each treatment.
Dyson air purifiers are available in each room. We will be using the air purifier throughout the day. We are also able to adjust the temperature for patient comfort with the Dyson Hot Cool link.
ENGINEERING CONTROLS TO MINIMIZE RISK
Staff are asked to minimize the use of shared equipment and to disinfect all shared equipment when used. We have minimized these risks by having separate computers in each treatment room.
All shared equipment will be sanitized during the day after use and disinfected by each therapist at the beginning and end of the day (this includes door knobs, light switches, microwaves, faucets, computer keyboards and screens, phone etc)
Our clinic is paperless and contactless and will continue to use digital charting and contactless payment processing. We have been paperless for years and we will continue to do so. We ask that all patients provide scanned documents (like MD referrals, ultrasound results etc) through email rather than bringing physical documents to the clinic.
We have virtual payment processing integrated into our scheduling software to limit the risks associated with payment terminals.
USE OF COMMUNAL SPACES
We are unable to ensure that all communal spaces in the building are disinfected prior each patient entering the building as this is a building that is used by other businesses. All communal spaces are cleaned regularly however we acknowledge that there may be risks associated with communal areas. We recommend that you limit touching areas like the railings etc when entering the building. Please use the washroom at home prior to your appointment if you are uncomfortable with communal washrooms. Due to our washroom being a communal washroom shared with other businesses we cannot guarantee that it will be disinfected for every patient. Our washrooms are cleaned regularly. By choosing to use the public washroom you are acknowledging that the owners and staff at Quanta, the building owners and lease holder are not responsible.
LIMITING NEW PATIENTS AT THE CLINIC
We are currently accepting new patients at Quanta Integrated Health if they are able to adhere to our communicable disease policies and procedures. If you are unable to follow our policies and procedures or are not comfortable with them we are unable to accept you as a patient at this time. This means that you are required to fill in the intake form that is sent to your email in inbox when you book an appointment or your appointment will be cancelled. We are confident with our current patient base at the clinic that they will follow our policies and procedures to keep all of those at Quanta safe as we have already established a professional relationship with clear expectations, boundaries and open lines of communication. We have already established an clinic environment where patients will not come in sick and will cancel appointments, will respect the current procedures and polices in place and they will also adapt to new protocols and procedures that arise periodically. We feel that by limiting new patients to those that are able to also remain complaint with the communicable disease protocols already established at Quanta we minimize any adverse impact on our current patient base, ensure that we are remaining compliant and we can meet the needs of our current patients while adhering to our strict protocols.
These requests are in alignment with the Public Health and Provincial Health Directives, and and CMTBC.