Fee for copy of blood/urine exam results

[longitude]

Is it legal for a clinic office to charge you for a copy of a urine or blood exam results? Considering it was all done under OHIP and the doctor is being paid his fees accordingly.

Some clinics charge $5, others $1.

[Shaner]

Clinics can charge for copies of any of your files, yes. It's legal.

[MrKap]

You called around to all clinics to see how much they charge?

Well at least you didn't drive to each one, that would have cost like $40.00 in gasoline, or two days on a transit system and $20.00



If it helps, and I am no expert on how hospitals, and things like that work. However, urine and blood samples might have to go to a laboratory where they have the proper facilities to do that sort of thing. I think I remember a lab existing in a medical building which housed several family doctors and clinics at one of the places I used to go to.

Perhaps the analysis service, is run independently of government?

Again, I am not 100% sure on it.

[sedated_xtc]

The test itself is paid for by OHIP, but it's common practice for doctors/clinics to charge for hardcopies for you. I mean, some doctors even charge for doctors notes now.

[MrKap]

Actually I never thought that maybe a "copy" is just a photocopy.

With the irreversible demise of print media, photo copies, and paper has gone up in price substantially

[dibksbgon]

Yes they can charge. Will they charge? Depends on your doc.
Got our blood taken when we signed with our family doc, doctor gave us both our 4 pages of results from our blood tests. No charge...

[sedated_xtc]

Actually I never thought that maybe a "copy" is just a photocopy.

With the irreversible demise of print media, photo copies, and paper has gone up in price substantially

They usually keep the originals with your file in the office, I think the one you get is usually just a photocopy. At least that's how it is with my doctor.

[longitude]

yes, photocopy....

[Sauerkraut]

The test itself is paid for by OHIP

Not entirely. I had to pay for a recent PSA blood test, not covered by OHIP. Since I have no outward symptoms, I get to pay for it. Even though I'm in the target age group (50+) for prostate cancer and have a family history of it.

Go figure.

[nauru]

It's a huge ripoff if they are charging more than 25 cents for a single page photocopy.

At the hospital they just give it to me for my personal records, I didn't even have to ask.

[CSK'sMom]

Completely legal and normal. My family doc tends to give me copies of everything, no charge, including my x-ray interpretations and blood work. Now my rheumy on the other hand, not so much...

[nalababe]

You called around to all clinics to see how much they charge?

Well at least you didn't drive to each one, that would have cost like $40.00 in gasoline, or two days on a transit system and $20.00



If it helps, and I am no expert on how hospitals, and things like that work. However, urine and blood samples might have to go to a laboratory where they have the proper facilities to do that sort of thing. I think I remember a lab existing in a medical building which housed several family doctors and clinics at one of the places I used to go to.

Perhaps the analysis service, is run independently of government?

Again, I am not 100% sure on it.

Outside the Hospital (and this is where the bulk of testing is done in Ontario), the payment is from the government, but the laboratories are not (save many Infectious Disease testing). These labs, such as Gamma Dynacare, Life Labs, CML (and other smaller ones) get a capped payment from the government. As part of the agreement the cap is fixed and the laboratories cannot reject samples. Because of this, the large labs reach their cap limit in the September/October timeframe and run the remainder of the year "free". This forces the labs to 1) focus on cost containment and 2) limit exposure to samples. For the latter, you will see a decrease in the number of hours a collection centre is open.....

[CSK'sMom]

Wow, interesting to know nalababe. I guess that funding model also means patients won't ever have online access to their results here like in the US. For those of us with chronic issues, it sure would be nice if could get out results emailed to us or accessible online on a secure website...

[BornRuff]

It's a huge ripoff if they are charging more than 25 cents for a single page photocopy.

At the hospital they just give it to me for my personal records, I didn't even have to ask.

I think it is more of a disincentive than anything else. They don't want people asking for copies "just because". Photocopying costs do add up for any business, but in a busy medical office, often they simply also want to minimize the amount of time they have to spend on non essential things, such as photocopying things people do not necessarily need.

[gman]

yes, photocopy....

You need someone to find your record. You need someone to make the copy. You need to pay for the trouble for that someone.

[longitude]

You need someone to find your record. You need someone to make the copy. You need to pay for the trouble for that someone.

Should I tip them too?






:twisted:

[longitude]

This happened to us yesterday.

Wife went for second ultrasound.

After 45 minutes lady calls me to show images to my wife and I.

Everything good. She then proceeds to print three images.
She says there's a 5 dollar fee for the printed images.

It was clear to me that this "fee" was a tip, because we were never asked for it in previous ultrasound exams.

I grabbed the pictures and said I didn't have change, I'd go to the front desk to ask for change or I have a credit card.
She immediately said it was OK, no need to pay. We left.

I was not paying for it.

[gman]

Should I tip them too?






:twisted:

You could. That is why we always maintain a good relationship with the clinic workers so that a lot of these fee can be "waived". In some sense, we did tip them for buying them coffee, snack, etc.

[Chr1s]

I now just take pictures of hard copies and print them myself if/when they ask me for an extra fee for doing so.

The look on their face is priceless.

[nauru]

I now just take pictures of hard copies and print them myself if/when they ask me for an extra fee for doing so.

The look on their face is priceless.

Please describe the look?

Perfectly normal to just take a quick photo, and saves the office admins "valuable time and resources".

[Abel4Life]

OMG why whine about it being a charge.

We should demand our passport renewals be free too etc.

Nothing is free (with minor exceptions).

[Neovingian]

Hope this post meets the seal of approval. There's more I wanted to add but i'll keep it PG.

tests + results used to be free in the 80's & 90's, I agree you shouldn't pay for a copy of the stuff when its basically your own fluids...right? I would shop around until you find a doc that doesn't charge or one you can haggle with.

[CSK'sMom]

Hope this post meets the seal of approval. There's more I wante dto add to this, but i'll keep it PG.

tests + results used to be free in the 80's & 90's, I agree you shouldn't pay for a copy of the stuff when its basically your own fluids...right? I would shop around until you find a doc that doesn't charge or one you can haggle with.

The vast majority of tests still are free to the patient. There is some stuff that has been delisted though, like PSA tests for those without issues and Vitamin D levels testing without a diagnosis of certain diseases and conditions.