The University of Rochester Medical Center announced that some message exchanges on its MyChart platform may soon become billable.
Beginning Monday, July 17, messages requiring medical expertise or over five minutes of a provider’s time could be charged to the user’s insurance.
The decision comes as a response to the more than two million complex messages received annually by URMC providers, prompting the center to encourage office or telemedicine visits for complex issues.
Charges will be levied at the discretion of the provider based on the complexity of the message, URMC officials told RochesterFirst.com. They also noted that just about 3% of all messages get billed.
The potential costs for users vary depending on their insurance type. Medicaid users will see no out-of-pocket costs, Medicare users will have an average of $4, Medicare Advantage users will have an average of $6, and commercial insurance users will see a copay average of $24 or an average of $45 if deductible.
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