Plan Administrator Knowledge Base

While services may vary depending on the specific benefits in your GroupHEALTH plan, sparrow’s platform can offer:

• Mental health counselling to find and connect with a qualified therapist within 24-72 hours – including five hours each of individual and couples counselling.
• Indigenous virtual counselling through Noojimo for those who identify as Indigenous and are seeking culturally safe mental wellness support.
• Self-guided digital therapy to help develop positive coping strategies and reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.
• Telemedicine services to connect with a Canadian-licensed physician 24/7/365 from anywhere in the world.
• Work, health, and life support from experts, coaches, and trained professionals – including five hours each of career, health, and life coaching.
• Digital pharmacy services so your plan members can manage all their pharmacy needs from the comfort of home.
• Medical Second Opinion services so they can feel confident in their diagnoses and treatment.
• Plus so much more support coming soon – including mental health resources for children, self-led substance use support, financial coaching, and more.

NOTE: What services are available to you in sparrow may vary based on your plan design, check your benefit booklet for current TELUS coverage information. For assistance or if you would like to upgrade to the complete sparrow experience, please contact your GroupHEALTH representative.

Employees and their family members have access to both individual or couples counselling available virtually, by phone, or in person. The initial individual counselling consultation is complimentary, following which appointments can be booked for 30-, 60- or 90- minutes. Couples Counselling can be booked in 60 or 90 minutes.

Hours renew annually on January 1st, in alignment with the calendar year.

Once sponsored hours are used, plan members can continue their counselling on a fee-for-service basis and at a discounted rate of $90 per session. They can continue seeing the same counsellor and apply the cost towards their paramedical coverage, HSA, or pay privately.

Yes. We follow strict Canadian regulations for online health services. All information is fully encrypted on a regularly audited server in Canada.

Our program was co-developed by clinical psychologists and people with lived experience of mental health challenges to help individuals easily access the benefits of cognitive behavioural therapy online. It works by teaching individuals how their thoughts and behaviours impact their mood as well as strategies to reduce symptoms and cope positively. In our program, individuals can access the benefits of CBT through:

• • Educational CBT modules and strategies for improving mental health
  • Interactive tools to help employees practice the skills they’ve learned
  • Regular in-app reminders to help users along the way

Most clients can complete the full program in 12 weeks.

Yes. Numerous studies have been conducted throughout the years to show that guided iCBT is effective in treating anxiety and depression. Health Quality Ontario published a study on Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Major Depression and Anxiety Disorders. The study found that guided iCBT represents a highly beneficial option for the short-term treatment of adults with mild to moderate depression or anxiety disorders.

Employees get access to an unlimited number of general practitioner visits for themselves and their eligible dependents.

Doctors on sparrow are Canadian-licensed general practitioners who practice family or emergency medicine in Canada. Providers on our platform are hand-picked and represent the same providers you might see in person. What can general practitioners treat? We can treat many conditions online. Nine out of every ten patients get their issue fully resolved in a matter of minutes. This includes cold and flu symptoms, common infections, chronic conditions, skin problems, prescription renewals, sexual health concerns, mental health issues, and more.

Yes, at the discretion of the general practitioner. For prescriptions, individuals will have the option to pick it up at any pharmacy in Canada or have it delivered to their door for free. If they receive a lab or imaging requisition, it should be printed and taken to a lab or imaging centre. Results will be uploaded to their virtual medical record. Follow-ups can take place virtually or with their family physician. Specialist referrals will require provincial health information. Our team will coordinate matching them to an in-person specialist.

*Lab requisitions are unavailable in Nova Scotia at this time

sparrow is not intended for medical emergencies. If individuals require narcotics or controlled medications, our providers cannot prescribe these virtually.

Yes.

Yes, over the counter and non-prescription drugs can be purchased through sparrow’s digital pharmacy services, brought to you by GreenShield Pharmacy.

sparrow enjoys competitive dispensing fees as well as fast and free delivery, through reliable carriers.

To transfer your prescriptions to sparrow, powered by GreenShield Pharmacy, head to the pharmacy section within the sparrow dashboard and follow these simple steps:

1. Select “add or transfer prescriptions”
2. Follow the instructions inputting the details of the pharmacy you would like to transfer your prescription from (including address and phone number)
3. You can choose to transfer all prescriptions or a specific selection
4. sparrow, powered by Greenshield Pharmacy will contact your current pharmacy and request a transfer of your prescriptions and insurance information based on the information you provide.
5. Then the integrated pharmacy team will get in touch with you to discuss your medications.

Your benefit plan includes unique cost containment strategies focused on prescription drugs. In order for your plan members to ensure their prescriptions continue to be covered by their benefit plan, they will need to transfer their existing prescriptions and/or submit new prescriptions to sparrow’s pharmacy partner, Greenshield Pharmacy starting on October 1, 2024.

To transfer your prescriptions to sparrow, powered by GreenShield Pharmacy, head to the pharmacy section within the sparrow dashboard and follow these simple steps:

1. Select “add or transfer prescriptions”
2. Follow the instructions inputting the details of the pharmacy you would like to transfer your prescription from (including address and phone number)
3. You can choose to transfer all prescriptions or a specific selection
4. sparrow, powered by Greenshield Pharmacy will contact your current pharmacy and request a transfer of your prescriptions and insurance information based on the information you provide.
5. Then the integrated pharmacy team will get in touch with you to discuss your medications.

sparrow’s digital pharmacy¹ carries medications and supplies to serve all of our patients’ needs. We can dispense most common and rare medications, for common ailments, allergies, sexual health and wellness, chronic diseases, and many other conditions. If a medication is unavailable, we will source it, recommend suitable alternatives, or connect individuals to relevant pharmacies within our network and ensure their needs are met.

sparrow’s pharmacy¹ is an NABP certified online Pharmacy. The National Association Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) is a US based non-profit that runs a safe pharmacy initiative to review and provide accreditation for safe sites to purchase pharmacy goods and services online. Our NABP certification is equivalent to a Legit Scripts certification. With sparrow’s digital pharmacy services all pharmacists are licensed through their respective pharmacy colleges and equipped with the education needed to care for their patients.

GreenShield Pharmacy is the pharmacy partner providing sparrow users with medications and services for plan members and individuals who are based on Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Newfoundland, PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

GreenShield pharmacy provides Quebec residents with the option to access services through Medzy | Pharmacie Sonia Boutin Inc.

Our Medical Second Opinion service will:

• provide access to some of the best medical expertise available in the world today.
• work with your treating physician to advocate and support you and your family in the event you are facing a potentially life-changing catastrophic condition like cancer.
• furnish you with a comprehensive client reporting package, including diagnosis, treatment options, and impacts in consistent turnaround times.
• receive the benefit of expert opinions, guidance on the appropriate care allowing you to focus on your usual daily activities with minimal unnecessary treatments and travel.
• reduce the occurrences of misdiagnoses or incorrect treatment and provide the most appropriate treatment plan with the highest chance of success.

Some of the covered conditions under Medical Second Opinion coverage include:

• Neurological & Mental Health
• Cardiovascular conditions
• Gastrointestinal tract
• Respiratory tract
• Musculoskeletal
• Hematology
• Otolaryngology/Ophthalmology
• Skin/Dermatology