Prescription Refill Charge

[Jewels 0]

BTW, thanks for being willing to take time with a patient when it's needed. I will admit that there have been times that I wondered why the doctor scheduled so many appointments and didn't allow longer for each to begin with, but I have also really appreciated it when I felt like I could talk to my doctor and get the information I needed without being pushed out because--DING!--my time was up. So, thanks for being sensitive to that. I'd rather have a doctor who is truly available to me than a doctor who is just punctual.

TPM Sister #102

[kbordson 8]

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a doctor who is truly available to me than a doctor who is just punctual.

That is a wonderful compliment. Thank you!

Although I do try to respect the appointment times.... I appreciate it when there is an understanding that medicine (especially OB/Gyn) isn't dictated by the clock.

[JohnMitchell 14]

If they told me in advance that there would be a $10 fee, fine. But no surprises, please.

If they want $10 to call it in, I'd say "No thanks, I'll carry the prescription down there myself." I'd use the $10 to buy lunch while I was waiting for them to fill my RX.

I'm not too surprised that some office is doing this. Anyway to turn a profit. Many businesses charge BS fees to up their margins. This is just a new one. I think all those additional fees are sneaky crap.

[d_squared431 0]

I dont know of any office that charges for refill request.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[DFWAJG 4]

If they want $10 to call it in, I'd say "No thanks, I'll carry the prescription down there myself." I'd use the $10 to buy lunch while I was waiting for them to fill my RX.

...or maybe the office is just trying to discourage patients from constantly calling in for refills, when the patient is actually supposed to be seen. I closed my practice about a year ago. Just two months ago, the pharmacy called me to refill a patients medications (for the second time). No, go to your doctor and get checked on!

[JohnMitchell 14]

Interesting. I can see how many patients can use the phone request in lieu of seeing the doctor. We belong to an HMO in which the doctors tend to give generous refill allowances on the original prescriptions. Maybe that's one way of controlling costs. After a certain time interval, a year or two, they request you see the physician again. Maybe that's an effective way to do it.

[peregrinerose 0]

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Interesting. I can see how many patients can use the phone request in lieu of seeing the doctor.

But the doctor can always say 'no' to the refills if they need to see the patient again, so it isn't really in lieu of, and charging for the service won't change that. Some meds I'll refill over the phone (ie allergy meds), some I absolutely will not (ie steroids). If I haven't seen the patient in a year for whatever the problem is, I won't refill anything.

I can't imagine charging to call in a refill though. That just blows my mind. Or copying a patient's chart, especially now with electronic records, it takes me five seconds to pull up their chart and hit 'print'.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[livendive 8]

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I'd rather have a doctor who is truly available to me than a doctor who is just punctual.

My primary doctor is a friend of mine. He's given me the controls in one of his gliders and I've jumped from another. I've taken him on a tandem, used his hangar for tinkering with my trailer, and drank a lot of his beer. I make a pointed effort to not abuse my access to his cell phone/hangar/email/free advice, but he is absolutely available. His office is on the other side of the parking lot from my office, and a quick email "Hey Jim...you got time to see me today?" usually gets me in promptly. Note I don't think I've ever needed more than 10 minutes of office time with him.

When bothering him doesn't seem reasonable, I have two other friends who are skydiver medical types who are always helpful. Just a few weeks ago I found myself in an ER for a few hours, but not until after friendly, frank advice over the phone had failed to resolve the issue. I hope they know how much their help is appreciated (especially in that instance!).

My orthopedic doctor is a couple hundred miles from me. He's available by e-mail and always gets back to me within 1-2 days. Those conversations are quite frank and very appreciated.

Our DZO is a dentist, and yes, he's opened his office on a day they were closed to help me out with a cracked tooth.

As for the refill thing...yes, that seems ridiculous to me. If nothing else, for something like an anti-inflammatory med, just ask them to give you 12 refills. That ought to limit the fee to once a year, and zero if you coincide it with an annual office visit. Because of my relationships with the docs who help me, I would have no problems throwing them some BS fees on occasion to cover for the times I don't get charged. The easy access to good people who actually care about *me* is worth far more than any co-pays or administrative fees they might want in return.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[RkyMtnHigh 0]

I just called a few doctors offices in the area and asked if they charge an annual fee or individual fees for general administrative services. They all have said No; that it's a courtesy to their patients.

If I change to one of the other doctors in the area who don't charge for admin fees, then my doctor's office is still going to charge me $50 to transfer my medical records.

I wonder how this business decision will affect their patient volume and patient compliance as far as taking their meds as prescribed.

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[peregrinerose 0]

I'd pay the $50 and switch docs... Docs are on your pay roll, you can hire and fire us as needed in your best health interests, and a doc that's nickel and diming for every service really says something about their practice philosophy.

Every one of my patients leaves the office with my cell phone number and email address and I wouldn't dream of charging if they needed to use either of them... docs of all kinds need to be accessable to patients without the patient worrying about financial repercussions of a simple email or phone call.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[ladydyver 0]

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Interesting. I can see how many patients can use the phone request in lieu of seeing the doctor.

But the doctor can always say 'no' to the refills if they need to see the patient again,

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I can see why they won't do refills over the phone if it has been while since the patient has been in.....there are a lot of meds that need to be monitored due to side effects and blood levels......just seems bizarre that they would tack on a 10$ fee for the nurse to call in a refill.

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

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[RkyMtnHigh 0]

I understand if they wouldn't want to call in a refill if they haven't seen me in several months, but I was just there last month. It's not like my prescription is Oxycodone or something that needs to be monitored closely.

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[LisaM 0]

Wow! You give your cell and email! Amazing! I got the cell of my opthamologist while going through all my eye stuff and I was floored.

~ Lisa
~ Do you Rigminder?

[ladydyver 0]

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I understand if they wouldn't want to call in a refill if they haven't seen me in several months, but I was just there last month. It's not like my prescription is Oxycodone or something that needs to be monitored closely.

Exactly....seems riddiculous then

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[NtheSeaOrSky 0]

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I'd pay the $50 and switch docs... Docs are on your pay roll, you can hire and fire us as needed in your best health interests, and a doc that's nickel and diming for every service really says something about their practice philosophy.

This bears repeating!!

I went from a 'get im in, get em out' practice to an amazing doctor who is always on time and is never rushed regardless of how full the waiting area is. I switched because he wanted to fix problems not toss meds at them and I can see an amazing difference in the way the two practices are run. His goals and philosophy are not such that volume of patients comes before quality of care.

I think charging for calling an Rx in is absurd, but I can see how the large volume busy practices would think they needed to since they likely are paying one person to do that one task all day.

And as an aside, thank you peregrinrose for the ethics of patient care you display

Life is not fair and there are no guarantees...

[Jewels 0]

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I'd pay the $50 and switch docs... Docs are on your pay roll, you can hire and fire us as needed in your best health interests, and a doc that's nickel and diming for every service really says something about their practice philosophy.

This bears repeating!!

I think charging for calling an Rx in is absurd, but I can see how the large volume busy practices would think they needed to since they likely are paying one person to do that one task all day.

I understand that a doctor's office is also a business and that they have overhead needs, but I expect those expenses to be rolled into the office's charges in general and not to have them blatantly passed on to me--at a tidy little profit, nonetheless. Other offices are covering these expenses without announcing it and making it a separate fee. I would rather pay a slightly increased overall cost that encompasses those expenses than feel like I was being charged for every interaction I had with the office. It's like using another bank's ATM and paying all the nickel and dime fees every time you want something. They also have a lot of nerve to try to make it sound like they're offering you a real deal. I agree that this tells you a lot about how they approach their practice and I would rather cut my losses, pay the $50 fee and get out. It's still $25 cheaper than their "special" offer.

TPM Sister #102

[wildcard451 0]

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Every one of my patients leaves the office with my cell phone number and email address and I wouldn't dream of charging if they needed to use either of them... docs of all kinds need to be accessable to patients without the patient worrying about financial repercussions of a simple email or phone call.

You're either 1) very brave or 2) have a practice composed of people very different than what we see.

Then again I guess you also don't get called with crap about babies crying in the middle of the night either.

[piratemike 0]

It sounds like it's time to change pharmacies.

[kbordson 8]

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You're either 1) very brave or 2) have a practice composed of people very different than what we see.

I have a few patients that have my personal cell phone number, but then there are some that I would be worried about giving it to. For example - the step father of one of my patients paged me at 4:30 in the morning demanding that her labor be induced because she was 39weeks (one week before her due date even!) He was threatening and quite an ass. (and I believe drunk... but it's hard to confirm that over the phone.)

[DFWAJG 4]

If I change to one of the other doctors in the area who don't charge for admin fees, then my doctor's office is still going to charge me $50 to transfer my medical records.

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They can only charge you for the cost of copying. About 10 cents a copy.