Thank you for referring patients to Allergy Physicians Calgary. We strive to provide outstanding evidence based allergy care for your patients.

Our waiting list is approximately 2 months. We prioritize bookings for food allergy referrals in infants and toddlers due to the significant adverse effect of prolonged food avoidance in this age group.

We welcome referrals from physicians, dentists and health care professionals with a Prac ID (such as nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, chiropractors etc). We gladly accept referrals in two ways:

  • Via EMR or Fax
  • Fax toll-free to 1-833-816-5734 (second fax line: 403-457-8237)

Our referral request form is available here.

When faxing a referral, please provide your contact along with your PracID. Please provide the purpose of the referral along with the clinical question, including pertinent clinical information (as per CPSA guidelines). We will keep your office informed as to when your patient has their appointment. We pride ourselves for being an efficient and dedicated clinic: We will have our allergist consultation letter prepared and faxed to your office the day of your patient's consult.

Telephone Advice
For physicians and dentists seeking advice, our doctors are also available via telephone should our nurse be unable to address your question. Faxing a consult referral before calling is required so that we can pull up the patient's file on shared records such as Netcare. Since we work over the lunch hour, please leave your phone number and he will call you back once available, which is typically within 2-3 business days.

Transfer of Care / Second Opinion
We do not accept transfer of care or second opinions if a patient is being followed by another allergist as this results in prolonged waiting times for patients who have never been seen by an allergist.

Triaging

We see patients on a first-come, first-served basis. The exception are for patients with an urgent need for allergy evaluation, such as unexplained anaphylaxis (as interpreted by our allergists or our nurses based on the referral letter) or infants with concerns around food allergies.


Allergy Testing

There are two aspects in our clinic that is very different from other local practices. The skin test devices and the allergy extracts.

Skin Test Device:
We only use skin testing devices that are approved for allergy testing. One would think that this is performed everywhere, but that is not the case. Our patients report that other clinics use the blood lancet for testing and repeatedly use the same lancet for the entire panel of tests, wiping it down between each test. Blood lancets have never been designed or approved for allergy testing and using the same lancet results in antigen carry-over.

Allergy Extracts:
We use a highly respected global supplier of allergens, ALK. For instance, our cat and horse allergen extract is known as "acetone precipitate". This is a more concentrated version, which correlates better than the non AP common extract, but is also much more expensive to us. We have chosen to forgo lower quality extracts.

100% of the materials fee we charge covers the actual cost of the test. Unlike others, our materials fee charge is precisely that and should not be used to profit from patients. In patients who have the inability to pay for skin testing and are being referred for a life-threatening medical condition, such as anaphylaxis, please continue to refer them even if they express their inability to pay for the test. We will either charge them reduced fees or will be pay out-of-pocket the fees associated with testing these patients.

Food Testing:
We do not do random food testing. We test to foods only if there is concern regarding IgE mediated anaphylaxis and we try to be as specific as possible. Random food testing has been shown to be very poorly correlated to clinical symptoms and is associated with a 30% false positive rate, leaving your patient with many more problems than they came to have addressed. Random food testing is done in certain practices in Calgary who are either not certified allergists or physicians with outdated knowledge who do not understand the significant harm this can do. We have seen countless patients who were eating a particular food well, only to be told that they were 'allergic' after having random food testing performed by certain physicians. This can have disastrous social, emotional and health implications. In children, restriction of two or more food groups is associated with poor growth.
Should you or your patient nevertheless wish to have random food testing, please refer to a physician who practices in this manner, as a referral to us will result in your patient inevitably leaving disappointed.


Patch testing (allergic contact dermatitis)

As contact allergic dermatitis is an allergic diagnosis and an inherent part of a good allergic evaluation, contact patch testing is part of our practice. Again, we use the most respected supplier of contact allergens (Chemodiagnostics, based out of Sweden).

We perform a number of patch tests, all which depend on the concerns brought forth by you and your patient. We also perform dental material allergy testing (typically requested by dentists) and metal allergy testing (typically requested by surgeons). See below for more information.

We have worked extensively with the supplier to ensure that the patch test test is available for patients. The downside to this is that Alberta Health does not pay for the patch supplies. Patients will have to pay for a material fee to cover the test. We realize this may be a burden on patients, but please note that some insurance companies will reimburse patients. As per CPSA guidelines (Referral Consultation Standard of Practice), we are we requesting that prior to a referral for contact patch testing you inform your patient about the fee and that it is not covered by Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan so that they may make an informed decision. The actual appointment (3- 4 appointments over one week) is covered by Alberta Health.


Dental allergy

We are happy to assist our dental colleagues and their patients in two ways: We provide allergy testing to dental materials and also can assist with identification of antibiotic allergies, specifically penicillins (see below).

Our dental allergy patch testing is dentistry specific - we do not do generic contact patch testing for dental patients as generic contact patch testing only evaluates for roughly 7 compounds that are occasionally used in dentistry . We evaluate 24 different dental materials, including of course various types of acrylates, resins and components, such as mercury, gold, chromium, palladium, cobalt, nickel etc. We provide your patient with a detailed report and fax you the final consultation report within 24 hours of their appointment.

The current wait time for dental material testing is approximately 3 months.

A reminder that we will require a valid PracID to accept a referrals. If you do not have a PracID, consider asking your patient's family physician to put in a referral request. No referrals are accepted without a PracID.


Metal allergy

Similar to dental material allergic evaluation, we perform metal allergy evaluation. This is an important test to perform in susceptible patients who are scheduled for implant surgery (metal rods, hip transplants etc). Again, this is not the North American Allergy series, but a metal specific contact patch test ranging Aluminum to Zirconium - A to Z.

We do not recommend it routinely be performed pre-operatively in non-susceptible patients.


Antibiotic allergy

With the exception of penicillins, antibiotic testing is not standardized. This means that antibiotic allergy skin testing is not very useful in determining whether your patient has an antibiotic allergy, with the exception of penicillins. Our first recommendation with concerns regarding non-penicillin antibiotic allergies, is to to use an alternate class of antibiotics than the one you are concerned your patient may have had a reaction to. Due to the unpredictability and non-standardized testing material, we only test to Penicillins.


Asthma evaluation and management

Asthma and allergies frequently go hand in hand. We do respect that many physicians are very capable managing asthma without the need for secondary advice and that a referral is only to evaluate for allergic triggers for asthma. Please indicate that if that is what you desire.

Our routine approach to asthma referrals is to manage them while they have persistent symptoms necessitating a daily inhaled steroid (mild/moderate/severe persistent asthma) and to refer them back to your care when they have intermittent symptoms. Please let us know if you are referring patients with asthma concerns for long term management until symptoms improve or for a single allergic or asthma evaluation.

Please note that effective August 2021, we no longer accept referrals for management of asthma, although we continue to accept referrals to evaluate for allergic asthma triggers. Consider referring your patient to paediatric pulmonology.


Spirometry

Dr. Hadi is a CPSA approved Level II Pulmonary Director and Pulmonary Interpreter. We have a pulmonary lab on-site. We do a pulmonary function test the same day the patient is seen in our clinic in order to prevent your patient from having to take time out of their schedule to book another appointment. We typically do not recommend PFTs be performed in children younger than 6 years of age due to their inability to follow specific commands resulting in unreliable results.

We do spirometry only when clinically indicated. If you do not wish for us to manage your asthma patient or if you already have had them evaluated for spirometry, please let us know. Do note however, that baseline spirometry performed in our clinic may be required in patients who have poorly controlled asthma and wish to have skin testing. This risk of a systemic reaction with skin prick testing is small, but real and for the safety of your patient, we generally do not do skin prick testing in patients with poorly controlled asthma (FEV/FVC < 70-75%) until symptoms are better controlled.

In conjunction with the Covid pandemic we have temporarily suspended spirometry.







Hours of Operation:
Monday 0800-1500
Tuesday 0800-1500
Wednesday 0800-1500
Thursday 0800-1500
Friday 0800-1200
Weekends and Holidays: closed

Address:
Allergy Physicians Calgary
5918 - 3rd St SW
Calgary T2H 0H8

Telephone:
403-ALLERGY (403-255-3749)
Facsimile:
1-833-816-5734
(Second fax line: 403-457-8237)


Drs. Hadi, Hinther and Almatrafi are medical sub-specialists and per Alberta Health regulations see patients via referral only. If you have an emergency, please call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest hospital. If you have an urgent or semi-urgent medical need, please see your primary care physician for evaluation or advice.

© Copyright 2018