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As they say: don't sweat the small stuff
Q: I’m transferring from one medical doctor to another and was told it would cost me $120 to have my file photocopied and transferred. Is this normal? And is this a fair price?
—Rona K., Toronto
A: Doctors can charge a “reasonable” fee to transfer your medical records, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. The fee is intended to cover the material itself, the time it takes to assemble it all and the direct cost of sending it to the new physician. While the fee isn’t defined, the guideline is $30 for the first 20 pages and $0.25 for every page after that. Doctors are also advised to take into account the patient’s financial situation. If your file is short, the $120 fee might be high and, as such, you can call your doctor and ask them to reduce it. If that doesn’t work and you’re really steamed about it you can file a formal complaint with the College. However, I used to live in the United States and I still feel grateful for the relative bargain we have with Canadian health care. If I were you, I’d pay the fee, move on and raise a glass to good health for you and your family.
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Good afternoon,
I have been with the same doctor for many years and last month, I received a letter saying that she was retiring in August. In the meantime, I was lucky to find another physician closer to me. I ended having a Meet and Greet Appointment and I was very satisfied with him. Afterwards, I went downstairs to meet the receptionist and she advised me that I needed to pay 50.00 to transfer all my Medical Records over to him. I find that this is ridiculous since I am on a senior on a fixed income and it’s the first time that I needed to find another physician because she is retiring. Since I believe that I don’t have any choice but to pay this amount. It would be a good advice to let other patients know about this and think about it before doing any unnecessary transfers. Thank you.
We were just told $472.50 to transfer my families (myself, my spouse and 3 kids) records after my doctor retired suddenly due to a health issue. That’s a mortgage payment.
My name is Elisa Horosz. I am 56 years young. I ask my dr. to transfer my medical records to other dr. He ask me to pay cash. it is ok or not, because I offer to pay by debit card.
What if you just say don’t bother, I don’t need my medical records. Then the fee is $0. I know my medical history so I don’t see the point.
So now the Doctors are selling back to us our own medical records in Canada…that’s not democratic, that’s banana republic.
Anybody know if this is a valid medical deduction for federal taxes?