The Alberta College of Pharmacists’ inducement prohibition was officially re-introduced to pharmacy professionals and licensed pharmacies on September 22, 2017. Since then, the college has received many questions from pharmacy professionals and owners about what is allowed and what isn’t.
We have updated the Inducements section of the ACP website to answer a question that has become more frequent of late:
Is waiving co-payments considered an inducement?
Discounting professional and/or dispensing fees is not prohibited. Under the Health Professions Act, ACP cannot set or provide guidelines for dispensing fees or professional fees.
However, please note that pharmacy licensees have a legal and ethical responsibility to comply with all contracts with which they enter. Licensees also have an ethical responsibility to be transparent about the fees they charge. Therefore, licensees have a responsibility to charge co-payments in accordance with any contracts they enter into.
For more information, read the Inducement FAQs available on the ACP website.
