Frankly, if I had had my head on straight when we implemented it, I would have charged $250 - $300 per year for a patient to have access to our "Electronic Services and Online Office" or some such. This would have included access to our patient portal and its features (which include an Online Office visit). They would still have to pay for the Online Office visit. It would also include access to Online Scheduling. Too bad, because I cant do it now. You cant take something that was for free and start charging for it. Well, you can but.....
Oh, and UHC strikes again! Some patients now have a higher copay for their Annual Physical than for a regular office visit. For example, $45 for the Preventive, but $25 for other office visits. So, they raise their rates, then they lower reimbursements to doctors, then they use hidden methods to reduce the amount of the fee they chose that they pay. Because the 3 patients we've seen with this had not noticed (naturally).
