In order to process my request for a medical appointment, I consent that the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (hereinafter "RAMQ") is communicating my personal information and, if applicable, information about my family physician to medical clinics and physicians, in the context of processing my request for a medical appointment.

I also consent to the medical clinics and physicians retaining and using my personal information and, where applicable, information relating to my family physician, in order to improve the services related to the management of my appointment requests, for as long as the services related to the management of appointments are offered to me.

I understand that I am free to withdraw my consent at any time by giving reasonable notice to the RAMQ, the medical clinic or the physician I consult. I understand that all personal information that I provide and that is communicated by the RAMQ when I use the "RVSQ" service is protected in accordance with the Health Insurance Act, the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector and any other applicable legislation.

The RAMQ is concerned about the protection of citizens' privacy on the Internet. Consequently, we invite you to carefully read the confidentiality policy for the "RVSQ" service as well as the Security and Conditions of Use sections.

Access to the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler

Every citizen with a Québec Health Insurance Card can access the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler. Non-eligible citizens (e.g., those having been outside Québec for an extended period) or those whose Health Insurance Card is expired can still schedule an appointment. They will be notified, however, that they must normalize their situation before attending their appointment. The clinic is responsible for making sure that patients are covered by the Québec public health insurance plan when they attend their appointment.

Protection and confidentiality of information

The RAMQ via the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler, ensures the protection and confidentiality of information transmitted by security measures it has implemented, in compliance with its legal obligations in this matter.

Clinics are nevertheless responsible for protecting the information transmitted to them by taking, at their level, the appropriate security measures. The clinics must adopt all measures necessary to avoid adversely affecting the security of the information in their possession. Protecting information consists not only in not disclosing it to a non-authorized person, but in not exposing the information to any risks.

Even if the RAMQ uses leading-edge technology to protect the information in the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler, it cannot take the place of clinics and citizens in carrying out their responsibilities or accept responsibility for any actions resulting from their use of the online service.

Service availability

At any time, the RAMQ may change or temporarily interrupt the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler, for instance, to improve the service, without prior notification to clinics and citizens. The RAMQ cannot be held liable for any prejudice resulting from these modifications or temporary interruptions.

Free service

The Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler is a service offered free of charge by the Québec government through the RAMQ. No fee whatsoever is billed for scheduling an appointment with this online service.

However, clinics, at their discretion, may bill patients for missing or cancelling an appointment or for being late. The MHSS is not responsible for any such fee, which is not reimbursable.

Access to the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler

Despite the efforts expended, the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler is not immune to synchronization problems with the software used by the clinics. The RAMQ cannot be held responsible for any prejudice related to this type of problem.

Service availability

The Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler site uses Google Analytics, a Web audience measurement tool.

To collect information concerning your navigation on this site, Google Analytics uses cookies, which are kept on servers located primarily in the United States. Google may transmit this information to third parties if legally required to do so, or if these third parties process the data on its behalf.

The information collected by the tool are, for example, which pages you consult, the date, time, duration and frequency of your visits and the links on which you click. The type of operating system of your computer and the language used, the name of your Internet service provider and your geographical position (region) are also among the information items collected. Your IP address is also collected, but is anonymized (truncated) to ensure the confidentiality of the information concerning you. The anonymization of an IP address prevents a web surfer from being identified by means of that address.

Google uses the information collected only to produce statistics and reports on navigation on this site, which enables the RAMQ to improve its provision of electronic services. Google will in no event relate the information collected on this site with any other data that it stores.

If you wish, you may prevent Google from recording information concerning your navigation by installing on your computer the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.This link will open in a new window

Search within a distance range of a postal code

One feature of the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler allows for searching available appointments in clinics within a given distance range (perimeter) of a postal code set by a person. By offering “general” available time-slots, the clinics enable citizens located within this search perimeter to obtain an appointment in their clinic.

The search perimeter by postal code is done by geolocalization of the clinics. The geolocalization service allows you to search for appointments in the clinics in relation to the geographical position of the postal code entered and to display the location of the clinics on a map.

Intellectual property

The Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler brand is the property of the RAMQ, which holds the exclusive intellectual property rights.

Automated telephone calls

The automated telephone calls feature is not implemented yet on the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler. However, here are the details related to this upcoming feature : all automated telephone calls (confirmations and reminders) are sent out between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. to the number indicated in the “Home telephone” field. By selecting “Telephone” in the preferred means of communication, citizens accept that certain information (including their first name, the date and time of the medical appointment, and the name of the clinic) will be read to them by the automated voice system when they pick up the receiver. If they are absent and have voice mail, an automated message will be left. If they do not answer at the first automated call, a second call will be made three hours later.

For an appointment confirmation, there is a 10-minute lag between the time the appointment is made and the time an automated message is issued. If both the confirmation and reminder are slated for the same day, only the confirmation will be issued.

Email transmittal

Appointment confirmation and reminder emails sent to citizens are personalized by the clinics. The RAMQ is not responsible for the content included in the personalized emails. The appointment confirmation is sent within minutes of the appointment being booked through the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler.

It is possible that emails are received in the junk mail box. It is the citizen's responsibility to verify receipt of emails.

Appointment cancellation

The clinic is responsible for establishing the deadline given to patients for canceling appointments online. This deadline is specific to each clinic. Past this deadline, patients are invited to call the clinic directly to cancel an appointment. In such case, the clinic may charge a cancellation fee.

Information entry

Some information entered by clinics will be used for producing emails, text messages (SMS) and automated telephone calls, including for appointment confirmations and reminders. Citizens and clinics must be vigilant when entering this information.

Legal system

The service Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler is governed by the law applicable in Québec. Any dispute related to the access or use of this service will be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of Québec courts.

The Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler, through the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), is subject to the Loi sur l'accès aux documents des organismes publics et sur la protection des renseignements personnels.Ce lien ouvrira dans une nouvelle fenêtre

• Never open emails of a dubious origin.
• Install the security patches provided by manufacturers.
• Never leave your device unattended. Install a standby screen (screen saver) with a password to protect your device while you are away.
• Delete the information in your device cache at the end of each session. For further information on this topic, please refer to the help section of your web browser.
• Configure your browser so that is compatible with the 128-bit SSL security protocol, thereby ensuring the confidentiality of the personal information you transmit.

Information for citizens

Login
To be able to schedule an appointment online, you must fill out all the fields on the identification page. If you don’t supply this information, you will not be able to access the service. Moreover, if the information that you supply does not match the information held by the Régie, you will be prevented from accessing the online service.

Logout
At the end of each session, to prevent intrusions in the pages that you are consulting or any fraudulent use of your identity:

• log out at the end of the session by clicking on the “Return to identification” page button
• empty your browser’s cache memory
• close all windows of your browser

This policy applies to the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler as well as to interactions with the user and the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) through the site. It takes into consideration the concerns of Internet users and their privacy. Finally, this policy complies with the requirements of the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information.This link will open in a new window

Information exchange

When you log on to the Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler, the following information is automatically exchanged between the server and your device :

• the Internet domain name (e.g. “xcompany.com” if you use a private Internet access account or “university.edu.” if you access the website via a university) and the IP address assigned when logging in
• the types of browser and operating system used
• the date and time of access to the website
• the web pages browsed
• the website address, if you access our website from another website

Communication

The Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler provides various means of secure communication, including telephone service.

Cookies

The Québec Medical Appointment Scheduler website uses cookies, which are files that are written to your hard drive when you visit a website. These cookies are used solely to facilitate your navigation on the site. They do not identify you personally.