More details: Went to the doctor only once beginning of February. Everyone is healthy. Got that bill dated to end of March.
We never asked the doctor to do that. Nor did the doctor told us he will perform such anamnesis in our absence. Nor did we receive any information about any result.
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That’s the preparation before you met them, or the administrative work (recording findings from meeting in person in your file) afterwards. 30 minutes is actually very reasonable.
You should ask your doctor why he did that, if there is a reason then yes it’s legal I think.
There is a thing called “TARMED” that specifies how much doctors are allowed to charge you and in which situations. And there are ridiculous things in it like being able to charge the first and last 5min of a consultation multiple times and at least 30min in total.
So that’s what they do, they just abuse the system. In your case I’m sure that this is what they can charge you simply for a short consultation, whether or not it was actually done in the end. And that’s one big reason why health insurance is so expensive here.
That’s normal.
I read a lot of “that’s legal” and “tarmed tarifs include post/pre work”… The main problem will be the “Patienten mit erhöhtem Behandlungsbedarf” that according to OP isn’t the case (“everyone is healthy”). Tarmed does include anamesis (obviously), but only for actual reasons. Hence why the doctor has elected to declare someone as requiring a higher level of treatment… which is the doctor’s resposibility to prove.
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u/Arkon_base call your insurance, they have the methods and reasons to tell a doctor to cut their sh*t and not abuse tarmed. More suprising tbh, that it didn’t get flagged by their automated systems from the get go -.-
We need more context. Is that the fee for a regular consultation ? What was the purpose of it ? How long did it last ?
All I see is that you went to see a doctor, doctor did his job and asked to be paid.
This is not only normal, but priced in accordance with standard tarrifs.
A long time ago, I was young, sick (gastroenteritis). After 5 minutes of examination and my prescription, the doctor said to me: do you have any questions? Cool, I take the opportunity to ask her some questions like “Can Dafalgan make my stomach hurt?” “Can I get sick again afterwards?” “Can the kebab I ate two days ago be responsible for my illness? She answers quietly. I think I have found a great doctor! 1 month later I have the bill and its details: she had charged me 50 chf per question ?! Until now I am still traumatized…
My aunt is a doctor in Switzerland and she charged me 50 bucks for a phone call
You aren’t in the United States. You’re good. 🙂
I read a lot of comments on this thread about doctors abusing the system and overcharging. I work as an emergency physician. Studied 6 years + 5 years training. I charge less than my dental hygienist, a car mechanic or a plumber. So I don’t feel like I or my colleagues, especially general practitioners, are overcharging…
I switched doctors because the first one was useless and overbilled. A year later I got sent a letter in the mail as reminder to come for a check up and later a bill for 3.90CHF for this useless letter. I was incredibly angry, tried to complain to my health insurance but apparently it was “legal“. Of course it was only a small amount but nonetheless. Looks like they can write a bill for nearly anything.
Yeah, my doctor said she’d email me my bloodwork results and instructions and we exchange a few emails on it. Proceeds to charge me sets of 15 minutes of “phone conversations” that never happened (it was probably the time she spent sending the emails?). Also caught a doctor once burning time at the office, looking at me and at her watch, slowly making conversation to end the appointment. In the end I got charged another set of 15 minutes because of this. Where I come from a medical appointment costs x independently of the time you spend with your doctor. Here I just feel this is a massive business and no one’s really interested in you as a patient.
As others have said, there is not enough context here. Doctors are allowed to bill this, for example, if they receive a report of another facility about you. Lets say you had an ER visit and the hospital sends a report to your general practitioner. They should NOT bill this to study their OWN files about you.
Regardless, you were billed 30 units of the following standard tariff number
https://browser.tartools.ch/#/tarmed_kvg/data/L/00.0161
There are clear rules when the “special needs” can be applied and it explicitly states that the reasons have to be made transparent to the insurer.
If you are unsure about why this was applied to you at all, especially with a “special need” label, first ask the doctor and, if this does not resolve the issue, eventually complain to the insurance. A good insurance will immediately jump on this and check if it is a pattern.
Funny how people think that doctors would do needed stuff for free after studying like crazy for so many years.
I once had a doctors appointment which I waited about 2 months for. I then got billed 280 CHF for „emergency treatment outside office hours“. On the bill it even said that „outside office hours“ means Mo-Fr 7:00-19:00.
It’s normal. The “consultation of the file without patient” can be necessary for many reasons, for example prepare your consultation ahead of time so he knows you past history when you come (there is not enough time during the consultation to read the file and redo everything) or often if the insurance asks questions and justifications on your treatment (not necessarily a new treatment), they need to answer and justify their decision to the insurance (and do it again if the insurance asks again 3 months later).
Once my girlfriend went to her doctor and he had a problem with his computer. She helped him fix his issue, and that MF charged her for the time she spent helping him…
This is some bloody nonsense. Is Switzerland so poor to afford a public healthcare? I would like to pay from my salary towards insurance on monthly basis rather than being scared of calling a doctor?
Very common. I got charged once 800 sfr for an exam that never took place. Went to my legal insurance, wanted to sue the quack, and my insurance told me that it is cheaper for them to pay the bill instead to go to court. So they did and the criminal doctor got the money.
Doctors are just like other people, some are greedy, some are lazy and some are just plain rotten to the core. Yes there are also good ones but thats not the point of this thread.
My Neighbor tripped and run with a garden tiller over his leg. The doctor stated he is fine. It got worse. He meet the doctor again, the doctor said it gets worse before you feel better. 2 days later he collapsed and needed an Ambulance. He had gangrene. The doctor called him in the hospital, to tell him he is sorry. 2 months later he received the notification the phone call was billed to the insurance company.
Idk i dont pay shit when i go to the doctor i have a good insurance.