PrEP prescriptions are typically issued as a 90-day supply. To get a refill, you need to complete lab tests every three months. These check for HIV and STIs – which is important, because not every STI has symptoms – and check your kidney function. With regular tests, we can make sure you’re healthy and connect you with treatment, if you need it.
The refill schedule manager on your Freddie dashboard keeps track of when you are due for a refill. When you’re down to approximately 1 bottle (ie. 25-28 pills), we’ll send you a new lab requisition. This new lab requisition kick starts your refill process with Freddie.
We'll break down each step within the process below:
1. Self-assessment
Log into your Freddie account and complete the self-assessment on your dashboard. This will ask you about any side effects and will forward your answers to our clinical team. If you have any persistent or bothersome side effects, you may be prompted to book an appointment.
2a. Go for lab testing
Some labs can take walk-in appointments, but some need to be booked in advance. This will vary depending on where you live; in some provinces, this wait could be two weeks or more. It’s a good idea to book an appointment as soon as your requisition is ready.
As a reminder, we will send a digital copy of your lab requisition for you through the Freddie portal to your preferred lab (if you’ve indicated one). If you haven’t set a preferred lab, we recommend printing out a copy for them, as not all labs will accept digital copies.
2b. Let us know your lab appointment date or when you plan to walk-in
Once you have an appointment booked, we ask that you log into the Freddie portal to notify your care team by completing the Lab Appointment Tracker under “plan your lab appointment”. This will ensure that our care team is reaching out to you with next steps at the appropriate time!
3. Notify us of completed lab tests in the patient portal
When you’ve completed your lab tests, log into the Freddie portal and fill out the lab feedback form on your dashboard.
4. Clinicians Review your lab results and issue prescription refills
Once this is done, our clinicians will send a new prescription to your preferred pharmacy within 48 hours.
We refill prescriptions while your test results are pending to make sure that your PrEP supply isn’t interrupted. On average, your results can take around 10 business days to process. We will only get in touch if there are any results to know about - no news is good news!
If your results are delayed, we will use the information you’ve given us to reach out to the lab directly and obtain your results.
Collect your refill
Once you’ve picked up your PrEP refill or had it delivered, log into your Freddie portal and ensure your refill schedule looks correct. Updating your refill schedule can be done by selecting the “Reschedule" button on your Freddie dashboard.
Most people will receive 3 bottles (30 pills per bottle for a total of 90 pills) at a time. Some insurance plans will only dispense one bottle at a time to prevent you from paying anything out of pocket, your pill count should include the number of doses you have on hand and any refills waiting at the pharmacy.
The images below are examples of how you can tell if you have refills on hand at the pharmacy:
Note that placement of this may vary by pharmacy and the labels created
If the pharmacy did not deliver your full 90-day prescription, please call them when you are down to the last 7 pills to arrange delivery/pick-up for your next bottle.