Your Health, Our Priority

Our office will be charging a $25 fee for all medication prescription renewals that DO NOT require a medical appointment and for which you would prefer to not come in for a medical appointment. 

PRESCRIPTION RENEWAL FEES ARE INCLUDED IN THE ANNUAL BLOCK FEE

Medication prescription renewal requests have significantly increased over the last few years. A prescription renewal involves work by our administrative team, as well as a full review by your physician. Because of the significant administrative burden, Kemptville Health & Wellness Center will be aligning its practices with other medical clinics and will be charging a $25 fee.  If you do not wish to pay the fee, simply book an appointment.  You can do so online or by calling the clinic.

Some renewals absolutely require a medical appointment for renewal. When a patient has an appointment for a medication renewal, there will NOT be an administrative fee.  For any renewal without an appointment, there will be a $25 fee.

If you do not wish to pay the fee, simply book an appointment.

Prescriptions add to the ever-increasing administrative burden that family physicians have incurred over the last several years. Prescriptions are written to align with the drug monograph while considering individual side effects. It is best to meet with your physician to understand if your medications can be put on a similar schedule, or if they require renewals at different times. 

Both the physician and patient have the same goal - to minimize the number of appointments or charges incurred for prescription renewals, while ensuring appropriate follow up and review is performed. Prescription renewals that have multiple prescriptions on them will be viewed as one prescription renewal.

The change to our prescription renewal policy is not intended to segregate individuals. Everyone has the right to healthcare, and it will be provided to you. If you can’t afford to pay for a prescription renewal, you can simply book an appointment when you need your prescription renewed. 

Please make sure that you consider that all of the physicians have busy schedules. You should be booking your medication renewal when you pick up your last refill, or at least 2 months prior to when you need it.

It is important that the Kemptville Health & Wellness Centre align its fees with other clinics, as guided by the Ontario Medical Association.  Charging for prescription renewals is common practice.
Kemptville Health & Wellness Centre has provided an option for block fees for those who use multiple non-insured services as a means to offset some of these costs for the patient. 

Our physician schedules are busy. We know this. You must plan ahead. We suggest booking your appointment (preferably online!) for renewals when you pick up your last refill. 

If you are looking to renew a medication related to mental health, like ADHD, anxiety, depression, please book a - Mental Health appointment.

Please make sure that you consider that all the physicians have busy schedules. You should be booking your medication renewal when you pick up your last refill, or at least 3 months prior to when you need it.

If you refuse an appointment because it doesn’t fit within your calendar, but the physician’s availability allows them to see you within the 3 months, you will be charged a prescription bridging fee of $25.

Sometimes, regardless of whether you want to pay the renewal fee or whether you’ve opted in for block fees, you will have to see your physician for a prescription renewal.  

When medications are not stable or chronic OR require ongoing monitoring, patients will need an appointment to verify the medications are working as intended. This would include diabetes, ADHD and hypertension medications.  Depending on the medication, this is likely to occur when you start a new medication.  

All narcotics require an appointment to be renewed.

Medications that don’t require an appointment are those that are ongoing, stable medications.   If your blood work and other monitoring parameters are up to date, you would not need an appointment.  This is at the discretion of the physician and is determined after they do a review of your chart.

Note that some medications will not be renewed without an appointment, even if you are willing to pay a fee. This includes narcotics. 

Antibiotics are not medications that can be renewed. You must be assessed by a physician to receive this type of medication.

Beginning April 1, 2023, do NOT ask your pharmacy to send us a prescription renewal request unless you want to pay the $25 fee. Instead, book your prescription renewal appointment online, or call the clinic to book the appointment.  Navigate to Online Booking on our website to do this online.

If you book an appointment, you will NOT be charged an administrative fee. 

If you would rather not have an appointment, you can request a prescription renewal to be sent from the pharmacy, but you must pay the fee prior to the renewal being filled. 

While OHIP covers the cost of most services relating to your medical needs, there are many which we provide that are not covered. 

For many years, we have provided these services at no cost to you and your family. Some services were charged on a Pay-As-You Go-Basis. 

Examples of these include, but are not limited to: 

• prescription renewals by fax

• sick notes

• referrals for physiotherapy, massage therapy, chiropractic, etc. (without a medical reason) 

• insurance forms 

• charge for missed/no show appointments

In order to continue to provide all services a patient may require, our clinic has an uninsured services Block Fee Plan.

We continue to listen and are improving on providing the best care for all our patients services. 

As a valued patient of ours, you have 3 options now:

1.   Continue to pay for any uninsured service you require on a "Pay As You Go Basis", by individual service (see list of uninsured services and fees) or; 

2.  Pay an annual fee which will cover a large number of uninsured services you may require for one year ( see list of uninsured services and fees covered by annual Block Fee) or; 

3.  ***NEW*** Pay an annual fee for prescription renewals only ***NEW**

If you have been a patient of our clinic for more than 1 year, you would have received a notice last year, similar to this one, providing you with options for an annual fee plan through PatientServ.

Effective March 31, 2024, all Block Fee Plan enrolments and payments will be processed through our office.  Patients who enrolled for the program in the last 12 months through PatientSERV will be automatically transferred into our office billing system.  

If you enrolled in the Block Fee Plan in 2023, you're renewal date with our office system will be 12 months from the initial enrollment date with PatientSERV.

(example:  Enrolled June 1, 2023, your renewal date will be June 1, 2024)

We have added a new option for Block Fee service that provide coverage for prescriptions only for one year (see full list of services for more details). We believe that our Block Fee plan(s) are fairly priced and hope that you will seriously consider the benefits for both you and your family.   

Of course, you may choose not to participate in the Annual Block Fee or Annual Prescription plan program. In this case, any uninsured services you receive will be charged on a Pay-As-You-Go basis. Patients will receive invoices for uninsured services used and have the option of paying invoices for uninsured services by telephone, in-person (at the clinic), or via mail. 

If you wish to enroll into the Block Fee or Prescription Fee service, please call our office and we will be happy to assist you.