Example of pricing difficulty in health care
September 25, 2023
KFF Family News reported on a trend among health systems to charge patients for some secure messages with their providers. Traditionally, patients (or insurance plans) would pay for office visits and procedures, and not phone calls or secure messages. However, as more care moves online -- especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic -- health systems have wanted to impose fees for some online communication.
Understandably, providers who spend a lot of time being thoughtful in their responses should be compensated for their time. Additionally, some health systems are likely trying to dissuade patients from asking frivolous questions or ill-prepared questions. It is customary for certain interactions (e.g. prescription refill requests) to not take much time and therefore not incur a charge. However, it is difficult to craft a policy around when to charge a patient. It appears that some health systems handle it by the amount of time that a provider spends; however, patients generally do not know ahead of time whether a provider will spend more or less than that threshold.
Aside from the question of how to charge patients, there is a separate question of whether health systems should charge patients. Online messaging can improve care, and uncertainty around whether a patient will be charged for an interaction might dissuade the patient from reaching out, even when appropriate.