Summary: My former medical provider is instituting an annual $30 record-keeping fee. I’m no longer a patient there — they don’t take my insurance any more — but they notified me of the change anyway. Details on the jump. If you know of anyone else doing this, please let me know at info (at) clearhealthcosts (dot) com.
“Dear Patient,
“Whether caring for a new or a long-time patient, we at Murray Hill Medical Group strive to give you the most committed, attentive and advanced care available. We offer 24/7 coverage in the hospital by our own dedicated hospitalist team and 24/7 phone coverage for the office by physicians only (no physician assistants or nursing staff). We provide same or next day appointments for urgent problems, as well as Saturday, early morning and evening office hours. We were one of the first medical groups in the nation to adopt the use of an electronic health record over 17 years ago. Since then, we have remained at the cutting edge of medical care, adding services such as:
- Electronic Medication Refill Requests
- Electronic Referral Requests
- Patient Portal Access to your chart information including laboratory test results, previous immunizations, medications, allergies, specific exam findings, etc.
- Secure Messaging to your doctors and/or doctors’ assistant to address basic questions or concerns
- Biometric and other forms completion
“We feel these services are essential to excellent care. We intend to remain at the forefront of healthcare delivery in the nation by adding more services to make your future experience at Murray Hill Medical Group even better. Although the cost of providing these services is not reimbursed by your insurance, we have, until now, assumed the full expense of providing them. Unfortunately, the costs to provide these important services have recently sharply increased. Thus, after much consideration, we have decided to charge a $30 per patient annual fee that will help us maintain superior medical care and continue to provide you with these services which are not covered by your insurance plan. We will collect this fee at your next appointment and annually thereafter. Please know that we remain committed to keeping this annual fee as low as possible and to continue providing you with the finest and most economical care in the region.
“With Appreciation,
“Murray Hill Medical Group”
By the way, my current provider has made no mention of anything similar.
If you know of anyone else doing this, please let me know at info (at) clearhealthcosts (dot) com.
[Update: Quick as a wink, here’s the Storify about the Twitter conversation that took place after I posted, on Tuesday evening, May 5. Updates as needed. Thanks all, and carry on!
