See Tom, my opinion on your example there is that in that case you should charge a forms fee (yes, you obviously disagree. That's ok, We all have our own opinions about these details).
But, if you perform a special service called Sports Physical (not just their annual preventive exam) then you set the fee for the service such that it includes any fee you wish to charge for the service, including filling out the form.
That parent may be upset. "You don't even have to do anything," they may say. But maybe you do. Because being generally healthy may not be the same as being healthy such that they can run full-court basketball for a team several times a week (games + practice). And you are signing off of something that says you think they are healthy enough to do that. I'd say there is an extra value to you signing off on this. That's why they want a doctor's signature on it...to shift the liability if forbid the kid collapses on the court.
So many people seem to want to claim that certain work the PCP does isn't worth anything. Or not much. It's ridiculous. I had someone on the phone recently that was asking about the pricing for a Yellow Fever vaccination. I told the price of the vaccination and of the office visit fee. She replied that while she would pay for the vaccine, she didn't want to pay the doctor anything her services. I had another guy who said that he didn't need a pre-travel health consultation (where the Dr. reviews your vaccination record and advises you what you should do to avoid illness while traveling especially to a developing nation). He says he doesn't need that..he can get that from the internet. Ok. Then he proceeds to attempt to hand me his vaccination record, and ask a ton of questions. That he doesn't need since he can get the answers from the internet. yeah right. I informed him that those things are part of a the consult with the Dr., and we would really like to schedule him for one. Oh, but that means he has to pay the Dr to provide advice, and that isn't worth anything.
Maybe I'm just getting jaded, cynical and crotchety.
