Allegations of illegal booking of medical appointments with Bonjour-santé

The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) is currently analyzing the activities of the private portal Bonjour-santé, which offers medical appointments to its paid subscribers that are pre-reserved thanks to the availabilities provided in the public system.

• Also Read: 300 doctors ready to do online consultation

Health network staff alerted the ministry when they noticed some irregularities in the availability of appointments on the Bonjour-santé portal.

This website provides a free service for research in a clinic where a patient is a member. However, there are paid services.

The platform has been criticized for booking appointments displayed on a public network system and then offering them to paying customers.

Preference file

“MSSS is investigating [ces allégations] In that order [de] Illuminate and confirm whether they are true or not. If necessary, the MSSS will determine what steps to take,” spokeswoman Noemi Vanhewerwijn said via email.

It is not possible to know when the MSSS was alerted to the situation and since it is trying to clarify the situation.

However, it refers to the preferred file, MSSS. PetalMD, a secure cloud computing platform that orchestrates patient care delivery, assists MSSS in these certifications.

Injustice

According to the Council for Patient Protection, this is an illegal practice under the Canada Health Act.

“It’s okay, we already have a hard time getting a doctor. If you pay extra then you have to wait for access first [ceux qui n’ont pas payé]It’s not fair,” argued Paul Brunet, the company’s president and CEO.

Bonjour-santé denied the allegations and instead described himself as a “showcase” of recruits.

The company searches for time slots according to certain criteria and returns results to the patient, points out its spokeswoman Annie Blanchett.

According to her, the subscription payment is justified by adding additional services to patients, such as an alert option.

Members with unsuccessful appointment searches may receive an alert when a time slot becomes available.

Ms. Blanchette could not indicate the number of members or hires on the platform for the year. However, she claims the portal gets 100,000 visits a week.