No, you shouldn’t! But I did not make this up. This is really going on out there in the broken healthcare system. Check this out:

When Brittany Tesso’s then-3-year-old son, Roman, needed an evaluation for speech therapy in 2021, his pediatrician referred him to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. With in-person visits on hold due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Tessos met with a panel of specialists via video chat.

The specialists, some of whom appeared to be calling from their homes, observed Roman speaking, playing with toys, and eating chicken nuggets. They asked about his diet.

Tesso thought the $676.86 bill she received for the one-hour session was pretty steep. When she got a second bill for $847.35, she assumed it was a mistake. Then she learned the second bill was for the costs of being seen in a hospital — the equipment, the medical records, and the support staff.

This is what DPC is competing against. It’s pure evil. Hospitals and Big Medical Corporations do whatever they can to find more money. I just got charged a follow-up fee for a post-op visit. I asked the billing company and they said it is because it was outside the 90-day global visit window. Interesting. I also found it interesting that they scheduled my visit 93 days out.

But what about the facility fee for a telemedicine visit?

“Those payments for outpatient care are how we pay our nurses, our child life specialists, or social workers,” Zach Zaslow, senior director of government affairs for Children’s Hospital said in a February call with reporters. “It’s how we buy and maintain our imaging equipment, our labs, our diagnostic tests, really all of the care that you expect when you come to a hospital for kids.”

I kept hearing the world’s smallest violin as I read that quote.

I am sure these fees are not to pay the salaries of all this hospital system’s administrators.

Do you know what the best part of these facility fees is?  They don’t fall under the definition of the No Surprises Act. 

The healthcare system has become a joke. Kind of like me asking if you should be charging a facility fee for your telehealth visits. OF COURSE NOT!

Now that we got that out of the way, how could you use this article? Well, if you are on social media or you do a newsletter, point out this garbage to your patients or followers. Make them aware that they need to ask about billing when they go to someone outside your office. Then slip in the fact that your practice is TRANSPARENT and they will have no surprise bills. That is how you do educational marketing and it is also a way for patients to brag about you. That is the word of mouth you want.