Telemedicine has taken off, especially since COVID. Many see major benefits: The patient doesn’t have to sit in a waiting room, where she can be infected, and the medical staff face less risk by not having to see patients in person, whenever possible. And, of course, a patient can maintain contact with her doctor during a pandemic.
One innovative offshoot of this trend is the online portal, which allows direct communication between doctor and patient. This communication often happens in lieu of an office visit. Consequently, healthcare providers have started charging for some medical advice given through these portals. In Fees for using MyChart? More health systems charging for some messages, Lisa Schencker reports for The Chicago Tribune:
Patients who ask for their doctors’ help through online portals might soon notice something new: Fees for their physicians’ online advice.
A growing number of health systems across the country are now charging for some types of messages sent through online patient portals, such as MyChart, with fees often around $35 or less. It’s a trend that’s sparking mixed reactions, with some saying it seems only fair, while others see it as a cash grab.
A cash grab? But that cash is paying for a doctor’s advice. Do these others want something for nothing? Apparently so.
Health system leaders say most messages remain free, and they’re only billing for questions that require more than a few minutes of a doctor’s time and that, in the past, would likely have merited an in-person visit.
“Some of those messages have become increasingly complex and are replacing what may have been a phone consultation or an in-person consultation,” said Richard Gundling, vice president at the Healthcare Financial Management Association, a professional group of health care finance leaders. “None of us wants to sit in waiting rooms anymore after the pandemic. We’re used to telehealth … we’re just accessing our providers differently now. The health systems are responding in kind.”
That’s only fair. But the entitlement mentality apparently knows no bounds for some.
Some consumer advocates, however, criticize the trend as greedy.
“This is yet again the big business of health care finding ways to profit at every angle on patients,” said Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairman of Patient Rights Advocate, a Massachusetts-based advocacy group that’s been watching the trend.
She worries some people will now be hesitant to ask their doctors questions, out of fear they could be charged. “It really disadvantages, disproportionately, and harms the very people who can afford it the least,” she said.
Greed is certainly evident here. But it’s not the doctors or big business that is greedy. It’s the people who want the convenient access to the expertise, knowledge, experience, service, and time of the doctors and business owners who are the greedy ones. They want these values for nothing
I never cease to be amazed—and frankly, disgusted—with the callous ease at which many people take for granted the incredible benefits we receive from the healthcare industry. The “big business of health care” is not seeking to “profit . . . on patients.” They are profiting on the valuable services they provide, a noble pursuit. The people of the healthcare industry are not our slaves. Like everyone else, they deserve to be paid for their work.
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