An American Medical Association House of Delegates committee is considering a resolution that the organization work with payers to bill patients for patient portal messages.
Here are five things to know:
1. Several health systems have started charging patients for MyChart and other patient portal messages in recent years to get a handle on clinicians' clogged in-baskets. However, healthcare leaders are split on the efficacy of the policy.
2. CPT codes allow providers to bill patients for portal messages that take five minutes or more of their time in a seven-day period.
3. At the AMA Interim Meeting from Nov. 8-12 in Orlando, Fla., a resolution asked the AMA to "immediately collaborate with payers to seek adequate reimbursement for professional time spent answering questions on the patient portal not related to a recent visit."
4. The resolution said increasing demands on physicians' time from tasks like responding to patient portal messages are causing "significant burnout and moral injury."
5. The proposal called for the AMA to "continue to advocate for physicians to receive adequate compensation or seek relief from overreaching administrative tasks that take physicians' time away from direct patient care during our present climate of ever-increasing unpaid and unfunded mandates on their time."