My Dr. Charges Me $150 a Yr. for Records

Ray Ray · 01-09-2009, 03:26 PM

I received a letter from my Doctors Office stating that I must pay $150 per Year for the Electronic Medical Records System if I want to continue going to their office.

Anyone else get a letter like this?
Will Health Insurance offer coverage for this?

The Rabbi · 01-09-2009, 03:48 PM

What benefit do you get out of this electronic system? I would change drs.

In my area the drs are changing to Concierge Service. You have to pay them $1500 a year dues besides your copays or premiums for a supp. I doubt if they take MAs.

I doubt if insurance will pay since it isn't an illness or accident.

healthagent · 01-09-2009, 03:50 PM

Fire your doctor after you sent them a gas bill stating what it cost for you to get to their office.

Markingriffin · 01-09-2009, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by Ray Ray

I received a letter from my Doctors Office stating that I must pay $150 per Year for the Electronic Medical Records System if I want to continue going to their office.

Anyone else get a letter like this?
Will Health Insurance offer coverage for this?

There will be people dumb enough to pay it. I would just find another doctor.

healthagent · 01-09-2009, 04:28 PM

If the doctor's your client - send him a notice that he needs to remit $800 per year since you just got a quote engine.

Ray Ray · 01-09-2009, 04:55 PM

After contacting the Doctors office they are trying to justify the $150 a year charge for my immediate access to records for referrals to specialists that may need records, insurance companies that may request records concerning my claims or for underwriting purposes.

Not that I am on Medicare but they also informed me that they are no longer accepting Medicare and all patients will have to pay their normal fees. They are still participating with my PPO network but have terminated several other PPO networks they were accepting. I guess my PPO network must pay higher then others do.

My insurance company refuses to pay the $150 stating it is an administrative cost and not for medical services.

healthagent · 01-09-2009, 05:01 PM

Sounds like time to FIRE your doctor

indmedins · 01-09-2009, 09:45 PM

Tell 'em you'll scan your medical records in for him on your all-in-one and he can ask you for the records when needed.

Assuming you have an all-in-one.

patch36 · 01-10-2009, 08:09 AM

I am sensing this is going on all around us and is the wave of the future.

Humana is offering an enhanced PPO here in KC that has these electronic records as a part of the plan. It is at a select number of Medical Groups and 'concierge' services and instant access to medical records is part of the package. I doubt many folks signed up for it.

One of the conditions of the plan is that the select providers have a system in place to provide the electronic records. I see a larger 'conspiracy/marketing plan' developing out of this and they are getting the consumer to pay for the software upgrades.

I am not a fan of insurance companies, but the Drs & Hospitals are as big a part of the problem as the insurance companies. Drs will not diagnose or medicate you without first running you through a battery of tests and sending you to their network of specialists so that everyone has a billing opportunity on your insurance plan. The costs are being increased astronomically for conditions that used to be treated by a simple office call at your primary physician. Primary physicians are now referral services to all the specialists. Everyone has their fingers in the pie, and it is standard protocol to milk the system using the billing codes to rack up every conceivable and approved procedure in the manual. If they code it right, the insurance company pays.

The system is out of control and may not be fixable. Corporate medicine figured out how to triple bill within the parameters set by the government and the insurance companies. They have built and expanded to the point they are addicted to the revenue they generate for diseases that used to be a simple one stop office call.

Markingriffin · 01-10-2009, 08:14 AM

Change the title of this thread to my ex doctor tried to charge me 150 bucks.

somarco · 01-10-2009, 09:43 AM

Docs are like a lot of providers, especially primary care. They are squeezed in all directions and are changing the way they run their business.

Some are charging fees over and above the regular copay. Some are going to cash only and rejecting insurance altogether. Others are setting up concierge services.

Expect this to increase especially with folks losing their work related health coverage and even more so if we get Obama care.

healthagent · 01-10-2009, 10:49 AM

...I'm not sure just how squeezed my son's pediatrician is blowing around town in his SL550

patch36 · 01-10-2009, 11:02 AM

I'm not seeing any evidence Dr's are feeling squeezed. They have figured out how to milk the system by going the corporate route, billing, bilking, and running 4X more tests for simple ailments than they did 10 years ago. The most important person in the office is the gal who figures out the way to bill and code to maximize profits. They justify it all with the 'don't want to get sued' BS, which if you have ever tried to sue anyone, know that it isn't easy, cheap or as common as we are led to believe. ...and now with tort reform, lawsuits are limited, settlements and awards are far lower, and not one penny has been redirected to the consumer by the Drs., Hospitals or Insurance Companies. The medical system is rolling in cash.

Medicare and Medicaid now account for over 20% of our national budget and are doubling every ten years. Social Security and National Defense remain unchanged and are not growing as a percentage of our budget. The problem isn't war and old people, it is medical costs and a broken and out of control medical system.

The SL550 is the Drs second car.

SportsNut · 01-10-2009, 11:06 AM

Many medical practices are going to the "retainer" type of charge. Whether you go see them or not, there is an annual fee. Their active patients will pay this, and those that rarely see the doc may decide to pass on it.

The fee is a new spin that has shown the docs how to pump up their botom line and weed the practice of dead wood; low profit patients. There are many docs that simply do not accept new patients, and they are simply enhancing the yield by the retainer, or fee, by whatever name they use. This is called a "boutique medical pratice", but usually at a higher retainer than the 150 bucks, so maybe your doc is using "boutique light". Be thankful that the fee isn't higher, some are $ 1000 or more yr.

healthagent · 01-10-2009, 11:21 AM

I'm not feeling a bit sorry for docs. They overbook - you're scheduled for 1pm and rot in the waiting room for 45 minutes.

You're excited when your name's called only to sit for another 20 in the exam room. Doc comes in...spends about a solid 3 minutes with you - kicks out the prescription and it's NEXT!

We do go doc-in-a-box now - in and out - flat fee normally around $50 and it's done.

xrac · 01-10-2009, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by patch36

I'm not seeing any evidence Dr's are feeling squeezed. They have figured out how to milk the system by going the corporate route, billing, bilking, and running 4X more tests for simple ailments than they did 10 years ago. The most important person in the office is the gal who figures out the way to bill and code to maximize profits. They justify it all with the 'don't want to get sued' BS, which if you have ever tried to sue anyone, know that it isn't easy, cheap or as common as we are led to believe. ...and now with tort reform, lawsuits are limited, settlements and awards are far lower, and not one penny has been redirected to the consumer by the Drs., Hospitals or Insurance Companies. The medical system is rolling in cash........

In our town the people who are building the biggest and nicest buildings are the hospitals and doctors. This is at a time that most of the construction trades are very slow.

HealthGuy · 01-10-2009, 12:18 PM

I like this thread...Why didn't we start blaming the docs a long time ago for our healthcare issues in this country? What makes them immune from scrutiny? Why is it always the insurance agents or companies who come under fire...? I'm not against a doc making a good income, but why shouldn't we as agents as well? We help people pay the outrageous doc bills with the insurance we sell...Bring it on Al3, this is chum in the water for you....

GreenSky · 01-10-2009, 12:52 PM

The two biggest reasons for the increase in the cost of insurance are the government and the government. The third reason is the lawyers.

1) Federal regulations that allowed the existance of HMO plans allowed people to see doctors for next to nothing. This increased the demand and of course, increases prices.

2) Medicare benefits allows seniors to see physicians for next to nothing. This increased demand and of course, increases prices.

3) Damn lawyers! Doctors are afraid not to order an MRI for a cold just in case they might miss something and get sued. This increases demand for tests and of course, increases prices.

Rick

Russ · 01-10-2009, 01:20 PM

Re: My Dr. Charges Me $150 a Yr. for Records ........

33 and a 1/3's....45's or 78's?

souldeux · 01-10-2009, 01:33 PM

I used to work in a doctor's office, and my desk was across from the lady who did medical records work. Our office charged something along the lines of $125 to get your medical records, but it was a one-time fee to get your stuff, not a recurring charge for the right to access. To be fair, this was because the group that maintained our EMR (electronic medical records) system charged US an access fee to get a patient's records hard copied and sent out to them. It could be that your doc is being squeezed farther down the line and is just trying to recoup that loss.

That being said, I have no clue why it would cost $125 to print and mail records from an electronic system. For some reason, I had access to all the EMR while I worked there and I guess I could have just printed it out at any given point. Maybe I was missing something, but...