Effective date: June 2024

General

1. Here you’ll find the CareHQ virtual consultation terms and conditions. You’ll be asked to accept these when you register with CareHQ and when you book an appointment.
2. Any reference in these terms of use to “CareHQ”, “us”, “we” or “our” means CareHQ Limited.
3. New Zealand law applies to these terms and conditions.

About CareHQ

4. CareHQ is a partnership between Southern Cross Health Insurance and ProCare and is a virtual consultation service that provides Kiwis with a convenient and easy to use platform for a virtual medical consultation.

Eligibility to use CareHQ services

5. You may not sign-up for a CareHQ account on our website or app unless you are at least 16 years of age.
6. You cannot book a virtual consultation with CareHQ for someone else unless you are their parent or guardian.

Information provided

7. You agree that all information you provide to CareHQ and any CareHQ GP will be true, accurate and correct. You will update us promptly if any of that information provided by you becomes outdated or is otherwise inaccurate as this may be relevant to the services and advice a CareHQ GP provides to you.

Booking a virtual consultation

8. You may not use the CareHQ website or app to make unauthorised or fraudulent bookings or to disrupt the ordinary use of the CareHQ website or app.

Account security

9. You are responsible for keeping your account secure; including activities conducted using your CareHQ account or user details, and communication with a CareHQ GP during your virtual consultation. You must ensure that your account or user details (including but not exclusive to any login, username, password, PIN or bank account) relating to your account are kept confidential and not disclosed to any third party. You also understand that anyone who has access to your phone or email notifications could also access your virtual consultation. Please let us know as soon as possible if you think someone is making or might make unauthorised use of your account or user details.

Consent information for CareHQ consults

10. By attending your CareHQ appointment, you understand and accept that;
    
    • you should be in a safe, private place for your consult where you can speak openly about your health,
    • for clinical safety your notes will be shared with your enrolled GP unless you request your CareHQ provider not to, during your consultation,
    • organisations that are involved in your healthcare such as Te Whatu Ora, ACC or the Ministry of Health may be given access to your health information,
    • you may be asked to have an in-person review with a doctor,
    • limitations on prescribing may apply, as per the terms listed under ‘Prescriptions,’
    • a service that transcribes and summarises notes of your consult may be used.

GP’s advice

11. The advice given through CareHQ is provided by a New Zealand Registered Medical Practitioner. They operate under a code of ethics which is the same code of ethics as a regular GP would have if they were seeing a patient for an in-person consultation.
12. A normal consultation is of ten minutes duration.
13. CareHQ makes no warranties, whether express or implied, as to the content of any virtual consultation.
14. You acknowledge that:
    • During your virtual consultation, a CareHQ GP may be unable to provide advice to the same standard as an in-person consultation. That is simply the reality of not meeting in person;
    • During your virtual consultation, a CareHQ GP may advise they are unable to provide advice virtually for some medical conditions;
    • You may still require an in-person consultation following your virtual consultation to provide better care to you; and
    • You may be asked to book follow-up CareHQ GP consultations to discuss results or for further assessment or as considered appropriate by your CareHQ GP or other provider, and all subsequent consultations will be charged separately (i.e. you will have to pay additional fees).

    In these circumstances a CareHQ GP will recommend you see your regular GP for a physical examination or they may recommend a GP or other provider in your area. The in-person consultation will be a new consultation for which you’ll need to pay the GP or other provider directly. Please also refer to our Cancellation and Refund Policy below.

15. Investigation (Blood test or Radiology)
    During your consultation, your healthcare provider will determine whether any tests or investigations are necessary to manage your condition. They may choose to decline any tests that are suggested by other healthcare professionals if they are deemed unnecessary or require ongoing follow-up to interpret the results or do not follow best practice guidelines. This approach is taken to ensure the best possible outcome for the patient. It is important to note that if the CareHQ health care provider recommends any investigations, the patient may be charged for them. Therefore, it is the patient's responsibility to confirm with their respective insurance provider whether the investigation will be covered. CareHQ cannot be held responsible for any costs incurred. If you require further clarification, please contact care@carehq.co.nz for further advice before undertaking the investigation.
16. In the event you’ve made a future booking and the CareHQ GP you’ve booked with is unable to attend the virtual consultation for any reason, we will send you an email re-assigning you a different CareHQ GP for your virtual consultation. If you wish to cancel your virtual consultation, please refer to the Cancellation Policy.
17. Any CareHQ GP reserves the right to discontinue the provision of advice, or the prescribing or delivery of medication to you at any time without prior notice or reason. We agree you may also change your mind and stop your virtual consultation at any time without prior notice or reason. Please also refer to our Cancellation and Refund Policy below.
18. CareHQ may withdraw, suspend or discontinue any of its services to you at any time without prior notice or reason.

Prescriptions

19. CareHQ is not a pharmacy, it does not directly dispense medicines. At your virtual consultation your CareHQ GP or nurse will send your prescription to your preferred pharmacy.
20. There may be some circumstances when we are unable to provide a prescription for a medication in a virtual consultation due to New Zealand law and regulations.
21. Depending on your condition and medication, you may need to see your enrolled GP clinic before receiving a new or repeat prescription. This will be at the clinical discretion of your CareHQ GP or nurse.
22. For an ongoing stable long-term condition where it is deemed safe and appropriate to do so, a CareHQ GP or nurse may prescribe bridging scripts for repeat prescriptions. Bridging script durations are at the discretion of your CareHQ GP or nurse and may be limited to 30 days for regular medications, 90 days for contraceptive medicines, and up to 7 days for controlled drugs or drugs at risk of misuse (such as sedatives and hypnotics). Your CareHQ GP or nurse may ask you to seek review with your enrolled GP clinic at routine intervals for medication reviews.
23. Prior to the prescribing of some medications a CareHQ GP or nurse may require you to undergo additional testing e.g. to have your blood pressure taken or to have a blood test.
24. Where CareHQ GPs or nurses may be unable to prescribe controlled drugs, hypnotics and sedatives, or medicines that require close monitoring you may be asked you to see your usual enrolled GP clinic, as they have an ongoing relationship with you and can monitor your ongoing health needs.
25. Any product, medicine or medication that a CareHQ GP prescribes you will be solely used for your own personal use and that you will not allow any other person to take, use or have access to that medication. If medication is provided or delivered to you that you will only take that medication in conjunction with any other medication that you have already disclosed to a CareHQ GP prior to the issuing of the prescription. Before taking any medication prescribed to you, you will read all information provided to you by the CareHQ GP, the dispensing Pharmacist or by the manufacturer of the product and will follow that advice. If there is any conflict between the advice provided by a CareHQ GP and the manufacturer of the product or the pharmacist, you must contact the CareHQ GP before taking the medication.
26. If while taking medication you suffer any noticeable side effects that are causing you concern, we recommend you seek advice from a health professional. That could mean re-booking an appointment with a CareHQ GP or your usual GP or pharmacist, to allow them to monitor the effect of the medications prescribed to you. For urgent care or severe side-effects, in New Zealand dial 111 and ask for an ambulance.
27. Any emails or prescriptions are intended to be only read by the named recipient as they contain information which is confidential.
28. If your behaviour or medication request indicates you may be a drug seeker, we may share information about your drug seeking with other providers in our network and other relevant agencies.
29. This may include, but is not limited to:
    • Other GP Practices
    • Pharmacies
    • Districts / Te Whatu Ora
    • Ministry of Health / Health NZ
    • Primary Health Organisations
    • Other National Telehealth Providers
30. Organisations who can help include:
    • Alcohol Drug Helpline http://alcoholdrughelp.org.nz/
    • Alcohol Drug Helpline telephone 0800 787 797
    • Free TXT adh to 234
    • Narcotics Anonymous NZ – http://www.nzna.org/

Suitable location and support persons

31. You agree to have suitable quiet and private space available for your virtual consultation and to let the CareHQ GP know if your whānau are supporting you during your virtual appointment. Moving cars and environments with open hazards such as work sites in close proximity to machinery are not suitable for conducting safe consultations. Where unsafe environments are noted by your CareHQ GP, you may be asked to rebook for a time when you can find a more suitable environment, refund in this scenario is not guaranteed.

Access to your camera and audio

32. To use CareHQ’s virtual consultation service on the CareHQ website or app we require access to your device’s camera and audio during your virtual consultation and you agree that the CareHQ website and app can access your camera and audio.
33. You agree not to record or have another person record or take photographs of your virtual consultation without the written permission of the CareHQ GP.

Technical issues

34. You acknowledge there could be some technical problems that may affect your virtual consultation. While we will do our best to make sure CareHQ’s services on the CareHQ website and app are available and running smoothly, we can’t guarantee that you will be able to use CareHQ’s services on the CareHQ website and app at all times, or that it will be uninterrupted or error free.
35. You acknowledge that if there’s a technical problem of any kind during the virtual consultation, for example if the picture freezes or the sound stops from a poor internet connection, the CareHQ GP will be required to complete the consultation over the telephone. Your CareHQ GP will call you on the phone number you provided when you made your booking for a virtual consultation. Please also refer to our Cancellation and Refund Policy below.

Security

36. CareHQ takes every effort to use approved, secure digital services and connections and a video conferencing provider which has end to end encryption. However, you acknowledge that there is a very small risk that this could be compromised, and your personal information, including your health information, might be affected.

Charge

37. CareHQ prides itself in providing accessible and affordable healthcare to its patients. Your payment card will be charged the applicable CareHQ virtual consultation fee (as set out on our website) once your virtual consultation has been completed. Patients requesting a virtual consultation via the CareHQ website or app will be presented with the applicable charges at the time of requesting an appointment booking.
38. If CareHQ have reason to believe that you have used another person’s payment card, bank account or payment details without their permission or knowledge, it may disclose information relating to the transaction to that other person, law enforcement agencies or their bank.
39. Please also refer to our Cancellation and Refund Policy below.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

40. This policy is applicable to all CareHQ virtual consultation services.
    39.1 Bookings made directly by the patient through the CareHQ Portal without a patient user account or login, cannot be changed, cancelled or refunded.
    39.2 Bookings made on behalf of the patient through the CareHQ Portal, for example by the patient’s employer or enrolled GP practice and without a patient user account or login, may be cancelled by the person that made the initial booking subject to the terms and conditions below.
    39.3 Bookings made directly by the patient through the CareHQ website or app with a patient user account and login, can be changed, cancelled or refunded subject to the terms and conditions below.
41. You’ll receive up to three notifications of your appointment: There is a link in the first two notifications where you can cancel your appointment. If you need to change your appointment, please cancel it and book a new one. The notifications include:
    1. Your booking confirmation by email,
    2. Confirmation email six hours before your appointment including a link for your consultation,
    3. A final reminder confirmation (email/text) 15 minutes before your appointment including a link for your consultation.

    You’ll be charged the full consultation fee if:
    

    • You cancel your booking within six hours of your consultation time.
    • You don’t turn up for any of your booked consultation time.
42. Should you wish to book a new virtual consultation due to your non-attendance at your original virtual consultation, you can choose to do so, but you will have to pay the full virtual consultation fee as applicable.
43. If during the course of a virtual consultation, a CareHQ GP feels that the patient needs to be seen in-person you will still be charged the full virtual consultation fee. The in-person consultation will be a new consultation for which you’ll need to pay the GP directly.
44. If during the course of a virtual consultation, you change your mind and stop your virtual consultation you will still be charged the full virtual consultation fee.
45. If during the course of a virtual consultation, a CareHQ GP decides to discontinue the provision of advice, or the prescribing or delivery of medication you will still be charged the full virtual consultation fee. You will not be charged any consultation fee in circumstances where a CareHQ GP has to discontinue the provision of advice, or the prescribing of delivery of medication in the event of an emergency.
46. In the event that a CareHQ GP is unavailable to attend a scheduled appointment then you will not be charged any consultation fee. If you still wish to see a CareHQ GP, you will need to make a booking for a new appointment.
47. In the event of a technical failure the CareHQ GP will be required to complete the consultation over the telephone. Your CareHQ GP will call you on the phone number you provided when you made your booking for a virtual consultation. You will still be charged the full virtual consultation fee.
48. If you believe you are entitled to a refund, please contact us at care@carehq.co.nz. Any disputes in relation to charges, payments, and refunds will be addressed by the Operations Manager, CareHQ.

Limitation of liability

49. Access to and use of CareHQ’s services is at your own risk. Except as expressly provided in these terms and conditions, we exclude all representations, conditions and warranties whether express or implied (by statute or otherwise) to the fullest extent permitted by law.
50. Subject to the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986, but otherwise to the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable to you for any loss or damage (whether it is direct, indirect, consequential or otherwise) arising out of, or in connection with the use of, CareHQ’s services.

Indemnity

51. You agree to release CareHQ from any claims that you may have against CareHQ and will at all times indemnify CareHQ against all proceedings, actions, claims or demands made by any person whether for personal injury, (including death and disability) or otherwise and whether occasioned by negligence, breach of a statutory duty, tort, equity, breach of contract or otherwise suffered as a result of or in connection with you using CareHQ’s services.

Privacy and information collection

52. By using CareHQ’s virtual consultation service, you authorise us to collect, use and disclose personal information obtained in connection with your usage of CareHQ’s virtual consultation service in accordance with our Privacy Policy and these terms.
53. If you do not consent to CareHQ sharing your consultation notes with your regular GP in accordance with our Privacy Policy that it will be your responsibility to inform your regular GP of any treatment and medications prescribed.

Changes to these terms

54. We may vary these terms and conditions from time to time without prior notice. We will post the updated terms on the CareHQ website together with the date of any update. You are responsible for ensuring that you are aware of the latest version of these terms of use before using CareHQ’s services.

Breach of these terms of use

55. If we have reason to believe that you may have breached these terms, we may need to block or restrict your access to CareHQ’s services.

Concerns or complaints

56. If you have any questions, concerns or complaints in relation to CareHQ’s virtual consultation service or these terms please use the Feedback link on the CareHQ website or app or contact CareHQ by sending an email to care@carehq.co.nz.