"Administrative fee" for school medical forms!

[disneysteve]

Like others on this thread though, I go home and photocopy it.

You're lucky if this works. Around here, most places require the physical to be on their own form. The school won't accept the camp form. The youth group won't accept the school form. And none of them will accept our standard office form. If all it took was a photocopy of our office form, we wouldn't charge anybody.

 

[Tricia819]

I'm surprised they are just now starting this. My former boss charged $10/pg for all forms. Then he would take months to fill them out. So glad I don't work there anymore.

 

[amandaraye]

You're lucky if this works. Around here, most places require the physical to be on their own form.

That's certainly a big part of the problem. There should simply be one standard physical form. Here in CT we have the standard blue State of Connecticut physical form. I'm lucky because if the camp sends a form to be completed I can jsut write "See attached" and attach the good ol' blu form, same with school. Organizaitons al ask for the SAME info in their special little forms, so I can't see why it should matter what color paper it's on and what the title is!

 

[hellokitty86]

Just venting...I took my 3 kids to the pediatrician yesterday for their annual physicals. I am covered for physicals with no co-pay through my insurance company.
But low and behold I had to pay $75!!. This past May they implemented a yearly charge of $25 per patient to cover school/camp forms, med forms for the nurse, etc...
I know the reimbursement is the pits for the MD's but I thought this was too much. Yearly, I make copies before I give the forms to the school nurse so I have them for camps if needed.
I guess this is where health care is headed!!

Wow! That is alot. When I worked at a pediatrician we charged $5/set. Some we didn't charge because we only had to stamp with the doctor's signature. We charged for forms because the State of Florida charged us for the forms and because we (the front desk) had to take the time to fill out ALOT of information. But $75 is nuts!!

 

[hellokitty86]

You're lucky if this works. Around here, most places require the physical to be on their own form. The school won't accept the camp form. The youth group won't accept the school form. And none of them will accept our standard office form. If all it took was a photocopy of our office form, we wouldn't charge anybody.

Exactly! And it is always hard on the medical staff to explain this to the patients! I got screamed at many times because of it. What alot of patients don't realize is the front desk staff don't make the rules!

 

[Forevryoung]

I see it as the same as my doctor billing me for phone calls.

Anything longer than a monthly routine "yes I'm fine I just need a refill" costs $75.

I would never begrudge my doctor charging me for his time. It's time that he could be spent doing something else where he would be getting paid! (Besides, he answers phone messages at night and on the weekends!)

Do you get paid for your time during the day? Why shouldn't a doctor?

 

[MKCP5]

Free at the tim eof your physical, $10 if you need to get one later -- I don't like it , but I am NOT their only patient

 

[Mskanga]

Last year my oldest daughter was homebound from school due to cancer treatment , every 60 days I had to get the homebound form filled out for school. I got it filled out everytime during an oncology office visit , everytime I was charged $10 !
Now this may not seem too much to some people but it was to me , I had to quit my job to care for her and we were down to one income with triple the amount of medical bills. I quick learned to photocopy the form and just change the date on it.
This year she is still on partial homebound and I had to fill it out again , only this time her PCP is the one doing it and he just did it for free yesterday , he has no problem doing that but I fill out most of the paper myself , all they have to do is sign it .

 

[alexedan]

I am a pediatrician who practices for a large hospital-owned group. We do not charge for paperwork that is short and completed at the time of the visit but do for later work. This seems more than fair. We do not bill for phone calls or after hour calls (although we technically could). I complete the physical findings part of the form myself, because my nurse doesn't do the exam. We have more training than lawyers yet noone balks at paying a consultation fee for them. My mom spent 1 hour on the phone with a lawyer requiring nothing else to be done on his part and was billed 350 which she will pay. I am payed to see patients and generate income for the practice. (I get none of this extra money.) If I am spending even a half hour a day filling out forms and not seeing patients that is a practice loss and not fair to my employer. Since we bill 350/hr for my time in court or depositons, a 5 minute form would be about 20$. Anything more may be a little high. (What I love is when parents come in for a form/physical and they don't even HAVE the form! They expect me to find it/download it/complete it and fax it because they waited until the last minute to come in!!!!-I'm sorry but procrastination on your part does not constitute a medical emergency on mine.) Sorry to be so cynical but providing healthcare is very frustrating and non-rewarding these days due to administrative hassles and paperwork/auths that keep you from caring your best for people. I am only 38 and already considering stopping practice. Bad for all is that there is expected to be a over 200,000 primary care doctor shortage in the next 5-10 years. This means less access and more hassle for all but perhaps that's what's needed to provoke a positive change in the insurance/fear-of-liability health care dominated system we have built.
To the lady who's insurance only pays for well checks every other year...that goes directly against AAP recommendations. You may want to write a letter of complaint to your insurance commission and copy it to the insurance company. thanks for letting me rant.

 

[disneysteve]

Last year my oldest daughter was homebound from school due to cancer treatment , every 60 days I had to get the homebound form filled out for school. I got it filled out everytime during an oncology office visit , everytime I was charged $10 !
Now this may not seem too much to some people but it was to me , I had to quit my job to care for her and we were down to one income with triple the amount of medical bills.

I hope your daughter is doing well.
In this case, you certainly should have spoken to the doctor and explained your situation. I often waive our form fee for patients for whom it poses a hardship. We're not trying to suck people dry. We're just trying to be compensated for the work we do and keep the lights on and the doors open.

I complete the physical findings part of the form myself, because my nurse doesn't do the exam.

If I am spending even a half hour a day filling out forms and not seeing patients that is a practice loss and not fair to my employer.

What I love is when parents come in for a form/physical and they don't even HAVE the form!

Agree on all 3 points.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Keep in mind that a fair amount of these forms have to be signed by the doctor, not a nurse. They take up time, and, especially if you call at a time other than the appointment, the doctor has to sit down and look through your child's records. Also, please do not take it out on the staff; it's not their fault.

My doctor's office also charges $20, and IME, they are not filled out by the Dr., but by staff, and then the Dr. just signs off. I know this because my DD's was filled out WRONG this year. They totally missed all her medications, which was really the most important part. Oh, and they don't fill them out right there. It takes a few days.

 

[disneysteve]

IME, they are not filled out by the Dr., but by staff, and then the Dr. just signs off.

Oh, and they don't fill them out right there. It takes a few days.

In my office, I fill out the forms myself so that I'm sure they are done correctly, but I also tend to be a bit of a control freak.

And we absolutely do not fill out forms right away. We make it very clear that our policy is 48 hours for all forms, referrals, etc. It would cause havoc in our practice if we had to stop what we were doing everytime someone came in with a form to fill out or came in requesting a referral. Plus, it would be very unfair to all the patients who had scheduled appointments to make them wait while I spent time filling out forms for patients who weren't even there.

 

[problemchild718]

2 years ago, I told my Dr that my 3 children were leaving her care because of her policy to charge $25.00 per form. She offered to waive it, but I was making a stand. With 3 kids in school, sports, cheerleading and the schools/sports teams not getting their act together and not having a universal form, I can't afford it. I started filling the forms out myself and have never had a problem (I'm a nurse) Perhaps a policy of one free form per kid is in order anything after that is charged at a reasonable rate.

 

[patsal]

Sorry, but that seems extreme. Part of doing business is filling out the paperwork. I find it to be squeezing every penny out of people. Since creating report cards takes time from my teaching and I have to do it at home, should I charge for report cards as well?

 

[disneysteve]

Since creating report cards takes time from my teaching and I have to do it at home, should I charge for report cards as well?

I don't think that's a fair comparison. As a teacher, you aren't paid for each individual service you provide. Part of your job requirement is to issue report cards, so that service is already factored in to your compensation.

Each time a doctor sees a patient, he is reimbursed by the insurance company for providing a particular service at the time of that visit. Filling out various physical forms, disability forms, energy assistance forms, DMV forms, public transit forms, FMLA forms, etc. is NOT part of the reimbursement provided by the insurance company. That means the doctor is spending hours and hours doing work that he gets nothing for. Years ago, insurance reimbursement was much better and the volume of paperwork was much smaller, so it really wasn't an issue. Today, doctors see their income drop and their expenses rise year after year at the same time more and more demands are placed on them. That's why you have started seeing more and more doctors charge for services that are not covered by insurance.

 

[dizcrazy]

My pediatrician charges $10 a form. I think $25 is extreme, and I certainly agree that the office should consider waiving the fee if the cost presents a hardship, or the family has excessive medical bills.

My form was filled out by the pedi himself and faxed to us, He explains he does the forms when he can, sometimes after hours if they had a lot of paitents that day. I didnt mind the fee. His office also sees my daughter immediately when she is sick, spends extra time answering questions, and knows how to deal with her for shots. (total DRAMA QUEEN! that poor office should charge me an extra $10 for dealing with her screaming lol)

Why cant states have a standard health form for camp, school, sports?

 

[WendyisDarling]

This is the policy in my office, too. We do not charge for any forms that are done as part of an office visit since we are already being paid for our services at that time. We only charge our form fee ($10) if a patient brings in a form to be filled out that is not being done with a visit.

I've been in practice for over 15 years and I can tell you that the volume of paperwork being requested by patients has grown tremendously. I think liability issues have a lot to do with this. Instead of one annual physical, schools now require one in the fall if playing fall sports and another in the spring for spring sports. The same child also needs a physical form for summer camp, girl scouts and the basketball league at the community center. The church youth group also requires a physical form to participate in their activities. It is not unusual for one child to need 5 or 6 physical forms filled out each year even though we only see them (and get paid) for one visit. The reality is that it takes time and costs the practice money to handle all that paperwork and many, many practices now charge fees for the service.

That's the problem we have. Everyplace wants their own special form filled out.
It takes time from the doctors to fill them out. I can understand the charge.
(Although, ours charges $20/form! I think that is way too high. I think insurance rate for an office visit is around $35)
I wish there was a universally accepted form. It would make everyone's life easier.

 

[Newfie2000]

Sorry, but that seems extreme. Part of doing business is filling out the paperwork. I find it to be squeezing every penny out of people. Since creating report cards takes time from my teaching and I have to do it at home, should I charge for report cards as well?

I really appreciate that comparison! As a teacher perhaps you should also be able to charge extra when a student asks for some extra help or attention that falls outside of the standard class time? Or maybe charge the parent who stops you after hours to discuss their child or the days homework? In comparison it seems fair to me!

And as far as Disney Steve's comments about this taking extra time and being over and beyond, what about all the times the dr. is in a rush and does not stop to answer every question, or pawns me off to the nurse or the associate? Or when my appt. is alotted 20 minutes and my visit only takes 5? Do you think I should receive a credit? Or that my insurance should not be charged for the whole visit? I think we all know that would never happen! I'm sorry but I believe the filling out of that form the first time under a regular visit DOES very much fall within the job description, but that's only my opinion...

 

[storybookstory]

Just venting...I took my 3 kids to the pediatrician yesterday for their annual physicals. I am covered for physicals with no co-pay through my insurance company.
But low and behold I had to pay $75!!. This past May they implemented a yearly charge of $25 per patient to cover school/camp forms, med forms for the nurse, etc...
I know the reimbursement is the pits for the MD's but I thought this was too much. Yearly, I make copies before I give the forms to the school nurse so I have them for camps if needed.
I guess this is where health care is headed!!

I would check with your state's Attorney General's office. If the forms are state mandated I can't see how they can charge such an huge fee. $5 I could maybe see, but $25 is outrageous!

 

[Mickeyluver37]

In my office, I fill out the forms myself so that I'm sure they are done correctly, but I also tend to be a bit of a control freak.

And we absolutely do not fill out forms right away. We make it very clear that our policy is 48 hours for all forms, referrals, etc. It would cause havoc in our practice if we had to stop what we were doing everytime someone came in with a form to fill out or came in requesting a referral. Plus, it would be very unfair to all the patients who had scheduled appointments to make them wait while I spent time filling out forms for patients who weren't even there.

I mentioned it because other posters said they get it done at the time of their visit. Even if I'm there for a physical, policy is they will take my forms and give them back to me within a certain number of days (not sure what that is.) They also will not let you pay when you pick up. The funny thing is that the staff is militant about that and the Dr's have filled them out for me right there if I needed them in the the past. They even joke with me about how the front desk is crazy about it- but aren't the Docs the ones making these policies?

I appreciate the fact that Dr's don't get a lot for what they do when you look at what the insurance companies actually pay, but something like this really should be a professional courtesy. But I will say, my OB's office was even worse about maternity leave paperwork. They charge $25 and have a 3 week turnaround time.