Second Medical provides second medical opinions to adult patients in Ontario. Based on your medical condition, we will find you the most relevant physician, regardless of where they live. As we believe quality healthcare should not be limited by geography.

At present, we only treat adults (ages 18 years and older). We will soon offer pediatric services.

After all your medical files are collected and organized, it will take approximately 1-2 weeks to complete the second medical opinion. This is significantly faster than results from a recent survey which suggests it takes 4 weeks or longer to see a specialist in Canada.

The process to become a Second Medical doctor is comprehensive and selective. Doctors chosen are considered the best in their field. Second Medical only chooses specialists who are board certified; trained at leading academic institutions; currently work at top ranked hospitals; are highly regarded by their peers; and have published research.

We have an extensive global network of specialists that are familiar and comfortable working with complex cases. In the United States, we work with top ranked hospitals.

This includes but is not limited to:

• Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
• Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
• UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
• New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, New York, NY
• Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia, PA
• Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
• Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA
• Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
• University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor, MI
• Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY

At this time, the service is only available to patients who live in Ontario.

Second Medical consults on a variety of different conditions, both urgent and non-urgent. Cases commonly referred to Second Medical include: orthopedics, neurological, oncology , cardiology and rheumatology cases. The only qualification is that you need to have already seen a medical specialist for your condition, as our role is to provide you with a focused second opinion based on your initial specialist opinion.

No, but we do recommend Second Radiology (www.secondradiology.com) which can handle this request.

If this occurs, we will work closely with your family doctor to decide on the next course of action. This might include speaking with your current specialist and coming up with a plan that is best suited to you. The key is good communication with all your health practitioners.

There is no charge to Second Medical members who have Second Medical as part of their employee benefits package. For individuals who are not covered, the fee for a second opinion will be determined on an individual basis depending on the complexity of the case.

Privacy is paramount to Second Medical. All data are password protected and encrypted. All data is safeguarded in accordance with government laws in Canada (PHIPA) and the USA (HIPAA).

PHIPA and HIPAA are a set of administrative, physical and technical safeguards used to assure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronically protected health information. PHIPA is an Ontario law and HIPAA is a US Federal Act.

New patients can open an account online by clicking the "Sign Up" button. Alternatively, you can either email or call us directly.