Alberta doctors now charging for sick notes, phone advice
Last Updated: Monday, June 23, 2008 | 12:39 PM ET
CBC News
With the help of an Ontario company, some Alberta physicians are now charging patients for services they were often not paid for in the past.
Doctors are allowed to charge patients for services that are not reimbursed by the province, including writing sick notes and renewing prescriptions via telephone, but historically, many did not, said Dr. Connie Ellis.
"Doctors should have always charged for uninsured services. Lots of doctors have never charged for uninsured services," said Ellis, a family physician in Calgary and chair of the Alberta Medical Association's committee on uninsured services.
'I think if you went to most Canadians and suggested, you know, 'I want you to do one out of every four hours for free for me,' most people wouldn't think that was a very reasonable proposition.'—Dr. Bruce Rosenberg, Healthscreen
"Because they weren't taught how to do it, they're uncomfortable doing it, so they provide the service without asking for money. I think they're actually really quite embarrassed about asking."
But with increasing rents and operating costs, Ellis said, doctors can no longer afford to work for free.
Sixty-nine Alberta doctors — 54 in Calgary — have signed up with an Ontario-based service called Healthscreen to collect fees on uninsured services.
"Upwards of 25 per cent of a doctor's time is engaged in activities that are not insured. In other words, doctors are doing this for free," explained Dr. Bruce Rosenberg, who started the company in 1992 and is now vice-president of business development.
"I think if you went to most Canadians and suggested, you know, 'I want you to do one out of every four hours for free for me,' most people wouldn't think that was a very reasonable proposition."
Patients of doctors who have signed up with Healthscreen receive a letter telling them they can either pay for uninsured services on a case-by-case basis, or they can pay a flat fee of $85 a year for a number of those services.
"If it takes a third party to collect for uninsured services for doctors and if doctors get paid that money, that'll improve their bottom line because they can pay then for the increasing lease costs, for the increasing receptionist costs, for the increasing utility costs," Ellis said.
So far, only a small number of patients have signed on to the flat-fee program, Ellis said.
Healthscreen, which keeps 15 per cent of the fees, said about 25 Alberta doctors are signing up to its service every month.
