Can a physician bill me for a “meet and greet” appointment?

If medical care (e.g., checking blood pressure, prescription refills, etc.) is provided during a meet and greet, physicians can bill the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan for the visit (no charge to patients). However, if no medical care is provided (e.g., they only talk about the services they provide, hours of operation, clinic policies, etc.), they cannot bill Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan because it’s considered an uninsured service.

In these cases, physicians can charge patients for uninsured services as long as they advise the patient of the charges before the appointment in accordance with our Charging for Uninsured Professional Services standard of practice.