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How to be a doctor or a family doctor in Canada?

Can a family doctor working in Toronto, Canada charge an upfront fee directly from the patient?

  • For admitting him/her as a new patient? My mother who is a citizen of Canada was charged a little more than $100 from her own pocket by a doctor for accepting her as patient. The only thing is I though OHIP covered most medical expenses in Ontario where she resides. Is the doctor stiffing her?

  • Answer:

    More details are needed to give you a proper answer. Here are a few scenarios that would have a cost attached to them. Is your mother transferring to this doctor from another, if so there would be a file transfer fee, her original file is the property of her old doctor so her new doctor would have to pay to have copies of her file sent to him. My doctor has a yearly fee to fill prescriptions by phone, if you don't physically go and see the doctor he can't bill OHIP for the prescription renewal that is why so many doctors won't do phone or fax prescription renewals. This to me is well worth the fee as it saves me an hours travel time plus time off work to get an ongoing prescription renewed, I only have to go see him once a year to go over my meds and have a paper script written for my drug store. There are a few tests not covered by OHIP so maybe he is sending her for one of these and needed to be paid up front. Next time she goes maybe she should ask him for a detailed explanation as to what the charge was for as well as a receipt because she can use it as a deduction on her taxes. She is actually very lucky she was able to find a doctor accepting new patients in Ontario, that is why I have to drive for an hour to see my doctor, I don't want to take a chance of not finding a new doctor I like closer to home.

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No, unless Ohip doesn't cover what she needed. What were they charging her for? Doctors shouldn't charge to accept a new patient, though her old doctor could charge her for transferring her medical file, but that would be around $50. If she had a valid Ohip card she shouldn't have been charged anything for a reg. check up. Yes they should be charging the government. I would get her to contact the government about this To bad moon rising: in Canada majority of medical expenses are covered, including accepting new patients. The government should cover every penny. Canadians rarely need to pay for medical expenses.

crystal

If a doctor does a service that OHIP doesn't cover, they can charge. However, it is a bad doctor that would charge just to be a new patient! I would never pay such a charge. In fact, I left a doctor in Ontario - a good one, but, who began with these silly charges. I went elsewhere.

capitalgentleman

You're not supposed to get charged as a new patient. Your mother should go back there and ask for an elaborate answer other than being a new patient. But I think you're leaving out some information. Did she have a family doctor before and just switched to another one? Doctors do not really accept new patients if they already have a family doctor. I personally don't understand why, but they "enforced" that rule and there's nothing I can do about it. Did you/your mother just move to Toronto from another town/city? Maybe the doctor felt like he/she can take your mother in because of the move situation, but with a cost. I don't know if that's allowed, but I would look more into it. You need to provide more details about your mother's situation.

borderline_excellent

okay they can charge administrative fees, my doctor charges for notes, refills and non standard vaccinations. Would you rather be charges thousands of dollars for simple things like having a baby or braking your arm? You really can't complain about an essentially free system

mms's

He does not have to accept her as a patient so keep your mouth shut and don't complain or your mom won't have a doctor. Yes, I suspect that since he did not charge for a medical service, then yes he can charge an up front administration fee.

Bad Moon Rising

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