University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center will begin charging patients for some messages sent through MyChart starting July 17, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported July 11.
The health system will charge patients for MyChart if they are getting a medical diagnosis or treatment for new problems or complex issues, or if a provider has to spend "five minutes or more of their time and their medical expertise," on a question, according to the publication.
These messages will be billed to an insurance carrier and be labeled as a "medical advice message," with costs ranging from $0 for Medicaid patients to $45 for patients with commercial insurance.
The health system said the move was made as its providers have been receiving more than 2 million messages a year.
"By billing for medical advice messages, we are following other systems across the country in refocusing MyChart messages to be used as originally intended — for non-urgent, simple messages about existing problems," URMC told the publication.