What is a dispensing fee?

Pharmacies charge a fee for each prescription filled.  It is known as a professional fee, because it applies to the service of the pharmacist in caring for your medication profile.  Pharmacists are university-trained professionals, just like doctors, lawyers and accountants, who also provide specialized services.  The professional fee covers the professional services that your pharmacist provides.

The dispensing fee also covers the costs associated with doing business such as salaries of the pharmacy staff, store rent and other overhead expenses.  The fee is usually constant for each prescription dispensed because the responsibility and degree of professional care provided by the pharmacist are the same whatever the cost of the treatment.

What do I get for a dispensing fee?

The pharmacists’ professional duty is not simply to fill prescriptions but to be a health care provider, by providing counselling, information and education.  Each time you bring in a prescription, pharmacists provide a range of professional services:

• Checking for drug-drug interactions and discussing any concerns with your physicians
• Accurate dispensing of the medication in a container appropriate for the dosage form
• Making sure that you have complete instructions about how, when and for how long to take the drug, what side effects to watch for, what to do if side effects occur
• Providing information to you and your family about your illness as needed
• Ensuring that you understand what your medication is intended for, how you should determine that it is working well and what to do if it does not seem to be working
• Detecting and keeping track of adverse or allergic reactions; recommending appropriate course of action when these occur.

What should I look for in a pharmacy?

Make sure that you are comfortable speaking with your pharmacist.  That way, you will be more able to get the most out of this relationship.  Look for hours of operation that meet you and your family’s needs. 

What is my responsibility as a patient?

• Make sure that your pharmacist know you and your physician
• Tell your pharmacist:
  o If you are taking any non-prescription or herbal remedies
  o If you have drug or food allergies
  o What chronic medical conditions you may have, such as high blood sugar levels.
  o If your doctor tells you to change your drug dosage or to stop any medication
• You and your family should use only one pharmacy for all your prescription and non-prescription needs.
• Follow your pharmacist and doctor’s advice on any lifestyle changes that have been recommended