Safety is Dr. Wilkinson’s highest priority. Effective care is highly important, but nothing is more important than safety.

Community standards of care drive most policies, though some are loosened out of a sense of collaboration, knowing that there is openly accessible communication, that a person is well-observed, and that emergency safety protocols are understood.

In order to practice safely, there is an expectation that all patients are evaluated at intervals no greater than three months apart.

Video visits are often available for access/convenience but should not be considered equal in quality to in-person appointments.

Dr. Wilkinson does not believe he has a responsibility to convince anyone to take medication. Taking medication is a personal/family decision. It is Dr. Wilkinson’s ethical duty, informed by his values, to provide recommendations as guided by the evidence as to a best course of action in each situation. It is a person’s/parent’s right to disagree with that recommendation, either on merit or in preference. In those instances, Dr. Wilkinson will recommend what he deems as the next best intervention likely to be acceptable.

Pharmacotherapy (i.e., taking medication) is a voluntary act, and one taken when fully understanding the spectrum of anticipated benefits and risks, and those of comparable alternative options. Dr. Wilkinson does not support proceeding with medication for you or your minor child unless you feel well-informed enough to freely give your full consent. Dr. Wilkinson expects and encourages to have discussions about any reservation, uncertainty, lack of understanding, and/or any other barrier to providing your fully informed consent. This is in service of providing the patient/parent all they need to develop their most accurate preferences about the direction of their care.

Dr. Wilkinson will pull from the evidence base for pharmacologic treatment recommendations, or to have otherwise developed a purposeful treatment rationale. He will consider the patient’s allergies, medical history, possible drug-drug interactions, and other factors related to medication safety, tolerability, and efficacy.

Dr. Wilkinson will provide a reasonable overview of side effect risks, especially common or rare but serious risks. Since all side effects cannot be reasonably discussed in every instance, he can—upon request—direct interested parties to where they can learn more comprehensively about unlikely risks.

Withdrawal of consent for any medication can occur at any time, but the expectation is that you will alert Dr. Wilkinson. He may then provide counsel on the safest ways to stop the medicine.

Though pharmacotherapy is a voluntary act, the expectation is that a medicine will only be taken as directed. Stopping a medication abruptly may be unsafe.

Related, misuse or diversion of medication, especially for recreational purposes are a breach of trust in our relationship, and grounds for terminating care.

Dr. Wilkinson will provide an overview of the expected duration of treatment for a particular medication. He will then work to help a person stop the medication as soon as is supported by the literature, community standards, and the specifics of the case.

Dr. Wilkinson requests direct notification if a medication refill is needed outside of a scheduled appointment. Pharmacies often provide auto-generated and unsolicited refill requests by fax, sometimes for medications or dosages that are no longer accurate. This is an issue of safety. As he is accessible to his patients by multiple means, pharmacy fax is also not an effective way to communicate a need from him.

Per treatment agreement, time- and/or expertise-intensive requests, such as some types of refills outside of scheduled appointments (especially if of a greater interval than recommended), may be subject to additional billing.

Though treatment is a collaborative process, the decision to prescribe will ultimately be Dr. Wilkinson’s responsibility and prerogative. As such, he will never opt to prescribe when he believes doing so is unsafe for the patient (or others near to the patient).

This list is not all-inclusive and may be updated over time.