Dispensing fee - Per Prescription or Per Medication

[softwaretesting]

Hi,

Doctor prescribed us 2 medicines today. When we took prescription to pharmacy they gave us 2 separate receipts for each prescription & charged dispensing fee for each medicine.

So my question is - is dispensing fee per prescription or is it per medicine? If doctor prescribes 5 medicines, do we need to pay dispensing fee 5 times ($12 x 5 = $60)?

Apologies if this was already discussed on this forum, but I could not find any thread regarding this by search.

Thanks in advance.

 

[canuck78]

Hi,

Doctor prescribed us 2 medicines today. When we took prescription to pharmacy they gave us 2 separate receipts for each prescription & charged dispensing fee for each medicine.

So my question is - is dispensing fee per prescription or is it per medicine? If doctor prescribes 5 medicines, do we need to pay dispensing fee 5 times ($12 x 5 = $60)?

Apologies if this was already discussed on this forum, but I could not find any thread regarding this by search.

Thanks in advance.

Every prescription will have a dispensing fee because each Medication will be compared to you existing medications to see if there are any possible interactions, you will be counselled about each medication and how to take it, ever medication is filled individually , etc. Everyone should fill their medications at one pharmacy so any interaction can be identified. There is some variability in price of medication and dispensing fee and some pharmacist better than others so would encourage you to shop around especially if you have a lot of medications and there are multiple pharmacist that are convenient to your home shopping around shouldn’t be an issue. Most chains should have standard pricing and dispensing fees within the same area.

 

[softwaretesting]

Every prescription will have a dispensing fee because each Medication will be compared to you existing medications to see if there are any possible interactions, you will be counselled about each medication and how to take it, ever medication is filled individually , etc. Everyone should fill their medications at one pharmacy so any interaction can be identified. There is some variability in price of medication and dispensing fee and some pharmacist better than others so would encourage you to shop around especially if you have a lot of medications and there are multiple pharmacist that are convenient to your home shopping around shouldn’t be an issue. Most chains should have standard pricing and dispensing fees within the same area.

I understand reason for dispensing fee. However, I am still not clear if pharmacy should charge dispensing fee once even if there are 2 medications mentioned or is it standard practice to charge it for each medicine?

If there are 2 medicines written in prescription & dispensing fee is $12, then is pharmacy supposed to charge total dispensing fee as $12 or $24?

 

[scylla]

I understand reason for dispensing fee. However, I am still not clear if pharmacy should charge dispensing fee once even if there are 2 medications mentioned or is it standard practice to charge it for each medicine?

If there are 2 medicines written in prescription & dispensing fee is $12, then is pharmacy supposed to charge total dispensing fee as $12 or $24?

Are you in Ontario? Standard practice is the fee is per prescription filled regardless of how many you do at one time. So if you have 2 medicines, then you would pay $12 for each or $24 total.

 

[softwaretesting]

Are you in Ontario? Standard practice is the fee is per prescription filled regardless of how many you do at one time. So if you have 2 medicines, then you would pay $12 for each or $24 total.

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, I am in Ontario.

 

[scylla]

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, I am in Ontario.

Then yes, standard / normal to be per medicine.

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, I am in Ontario.

Dispensing fee is really a professional practice fee and in some areas it is no longer referred to as dispensing fee. For every prescription a pharmacist is reviewing that this is an appropriate medication for you and based on your other medication. That is why every medication has it’s own fee because the pharmacist reviews each medication. It’s not like one shipping fee when you order 2 things on amazon.