The House of Assembly has passed legislation to validate payment and collection of fees for medical reports.
This relates to when such reports are prepared by medical practitioners and paramedical practitioners, for patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, polyclinics and other stateoperated institutions which provide health services.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Davidson Ishmael piloted the Health Services (Medical Reports) (Fees) (Validation) Bill, which was passed, during Tuesday’s session.
He stressed that the fee for medical reports would remain $375 and that the bill had nothing to do with increasing the cost of this service.
“What we have had over the years is a situation where the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and its various professionals, whether the medical practitioners or the paramedical practitioners, have been able to charge for the delivery of medical reports.
Pulling those records
“That charge, as it currently stands, is $375 where $150 as a portion of that $375 goes to the physician or to the paramedical professional, and the rest of it, $225 goes to the state for . . . the work that goes into pulling those records.
“Unfortunately, when a person goes to the polyclinic, another state owned .
. . institution . . . and they receive that same level of care from a medical practitioner and professional they are not charged the $375 as is the case at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.”
The minister said Government was simply seeking to “regularise the environment, given the fact that there is a significant amount of work that is done by all professionals across the board, whether at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital or anywhere else, to be able to deliver a medical report to our citizens”.
He noted that medical reports were required by various entities for different reasons, including insurance purposes, when there were accidents and sometimes by employers.
“In many cases, it requires a heavy amount of due diligence in looking at the person’s records, from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and other places as well.”
(SC)
