I've considered that idea many times, about charging for phone calls. What's deterred me isn't some altruist sense of helping people. It's simply that when they call me, I'm doing something and don't feel like carrying a pocket billing sheet w/ me. I should though.
Those telephone answering services that screen your calls and give triage advice will charge the subscribing office about $25/call, sometimes more! We should tell pt's that for every phone call requiring my advise, will be $25 charge. I could even say that in the message, "If you stay on the line to page Dr. Lauer, you will be charged $25."
However I would probably not charge that person if they called me for chest pain, then I later admit them to the hospital. But what if they didn't complete the call due to the charge and then died of a heart attack? It wouldn't look good. Maybe I say "you will be charged $25, but if you die don't come looking for me!" HaHa
