Cost of medical advice through MyChart messages
大多数信息都是免费的. 但是从11月开始. 14, 2021, if a response requires medical expertise and more than a few minutes of your health care provider's time, 这可能会记入你的保险费用.
Your provider will determine whether a message exchange should be billed to insurance. If so, UCSF will handle the billing on your behalf. (See the "What counts" sections below for examples of what might be billed and what won't.)
Even if a message is billed to insurance, some patients won't have to pay anything. 对于那些知道的人, out-of-pocket expenses for this type of care vary by insurance plan and are often low. 以下是我们的期待:
保险计划 |
医疗建议信息的费用 |
医疗保险 |
对大多数患者来说,无需自付费用. For a small number of patients, the cost could be $3 to $6.
病人 with 医疗保险 Advantage will have a co-payment of $20 (the cost of an in-person or video visit). |
加州医保 |
无需自付费用. |
私人保险 |
Some patients will have co-payments similar to those for in-person or video visits (common copays are $10 and $20). If a deductible applies, the full amount will be charged (average amount is around $75). |
To learn your out-of-pocket cost for a medical advice message, contact your insurer. If the representative asks for a "CPT code" to help them identify this type of visit, 告诉他们相关代码是99421, 99422 and 99423 (these three codes reflect varying amounts of time your provider may spend handling a particular message). 加州医保使用自己的代码:G2012. For medical advice messages with psychologists, the relevant codes are 98970, 98971, and 98972.
什么是医疗建议信息
如果你的十大赌博平台排行榜, 护士, 医师助理, 验光师, certified nurse midwife or psychologist needs to make a clinical assessment or medical decision, 安排检查或药物治疗, or review your medical history in order to respond to your message – or if it takes more than a few minutes to respond – the provider may bill the message exchange to your insurance.
Examples of messages that may be billed to insurance:
- A new issue or symptom requiring medical assessment or referral
- 调整药物
- 慢性病登记
- 慢性病的突然发作或变化
- 请求填写表格
What doesn't count as medical advice messaging
If your message does not require clinical evaluation or medical advice from a doctor, 护士, 医师助理, 验光师, certified nurse midwife or psychologist – or if it can be answered quickly and easily – it won't cost you anything.
Examples of messages that won't be billed to insurance:
- 申请重新配药
- 请求安排预约
- Message that leads your provider to recommend a visit
- Follow-up care related to a recent surgery (within the past 90 days) – with exceptions for some surgeries
- Update for your doctor when no response is needed
- Message that takes only a few minutes to answer
Why are some MyChart messages billed to insurance?
Messaging health care providers has become a popular way to seek medical advice, especially with the pandemic spurring demand for virtual health care options. 值得庆幸的是, insurance companies recognize that virtual care is a valid and important way for patients to get medical advice. 它们现在涵盖以下所有内容:
- 之间的互访
- 视频访问
- 电话访问
- 医疗建议信息(通过MyChart)
While the majority of messages sent through MyChart are handled quickly and never billed to insurance, those that require time and expertise are a form of virtual care – and it makes sense to treat them as such, 以及其他类型的护理.
We're pleased to offer you all of these choices for getting medical care from UCSF, and we'll continue to do everything we can to provide our patients with timely, 顶级护理.
如何给你的医疗保健提供者发信息
登录MyChart in a web browser or open the MyChart app and select "Messages.然后,按照提示去做.
选择收件人时, you'll see a list of providers available for you to message (the providers for whom you're currently a patient).
If you don't have a MyChart account, go to the MyChart 页面,在“创建帐户”下查看." You'll see the option to sign up with or without an activation code.