Want to message your doctor? One of Iowa's biggest health systems says that will cost you.
UnityPoint Health, one of Iowa's largest health care systems, is now charging patients to message their doctor through an online patient portal.
Beginning Tuesday, patients' insurance will be billed if they send a message on MyChart that requires a provider's clinical time and medical expertise.
Those who lack insurance coverage or whose plans don't reimburse for this service could see fees between $36 to $70, depending on the time required to review the chart and provide clinical guidance, health system officials said.
UnityPoint Health utilizes MyChart, a secure electronic communications system that allows patients to contact their provider directly, schedule appointments and view test results.
COVID-19 pandemic sends patients scurrying to send emails
Electronic communications systems such as MyChart exploded with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A study using data from Epic, a prominent health records company, found providers at hundreds of hospitals nationwide saw a dramatic increase in patient emails to providers between December 2019 and January 2021.
One clinician, researchers noted, saw a 157% increase in messages per day compared with before the pandemic.
UnityPoint Health said it has seen a similar trend, with the number of messages to providers more than doubling since the start of the pandemic, said Dr. Patricia Newland, CEO of UnityPoint Clinics.
With this move, the system joins a growing number of health care organizations nationwide billing insurance for providers' time to respond to patient questions online.
"This policy helps support our goal to provide high-quality, personalized care to as many patients as possible," Newland said.
When an email to your doctor won't cost you
UnityPoint patients won't be charged for messages about scheduling appointments or requesting a prescription refill.
Exceptions also include messages about an issue patients saw their provider for within the last 7 days, or if the provider reached out to the patient to ask a question.
The goal is not to dissuade patients from using MyChart, which offers a convenient option for patients to get answers to nonurgent medical questions, officials said.
"We want to deliver high-quality, personalized care to as many patients as possible," Newland said. "This change better supports our providers who are spending significant amounts of time providing care through portal messages while also caring for patients in the office."
Where fees for doctor emails first started
Monetary fees for emailing doctors were first introduced in 2019 by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which introduced billing codes that allowed providers to seek reimbursement for responding to patients through secure messaging portals.
Since then, dozens of major health care systems have implemented similar policies.
The Chicago Tribune recently reported on many area hospitals that bill patients' insurance for emails, with costs to patients often around $35. The Cleveland Clinic also announced a policy late last year, with plans to bill up to $50 for certain messages, according to Cleveland.com.
Health system officials and other supporters of these policies argue the time and effort it takes to respond to these messages should not go uncompensated.
Opponents say even these small, out-of-pocket fees will put more financial strain on patients.
One patient advocate told The Chicago Tribune she worries patients will now hesitate to ask their doctors questions to avoid being charged.
Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UnityPoint Health joins health systems charging fees to message doctor
