You could be charged up to $160 just to message your doctor as hospital systems roll out fees to grapple with the boom of telehealth services, report says

• Hospital systems are billing patients who send telehealth messages to their doctors, The AP reported.
• Some hospitals argue that physicians spend a significant amount of time responding to inquiries.
• Advocates say adding these fees will make some patients more hesitant to reach out. 

A patient could be billed up to $160 just to message their doctor about a health concern as some hospital systems around the US introduce fees amid the rise of telehealth services, according to The Associated Press. 

Hospitals cite the growing amount of time physicians spend responding to inquiries from their patients, including some that would be better handled during an in-person visit, the outlet reported.

Telehealth services, which erupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, give patients the comfort of checking in with health professionals from home through virtual appointments and utilizing patient portals that could be accessed through a computer or smartphone, Insider previously reported.

But, it soon became a strain for some healthcare practitioners. 

"When people figured out this is cool and could improve care, you saw hospitals and practice groups saying to patients, welcome to your portal ... you can ping your physician with questions if you want," Jack Resneck Jr., the president of the American Medical Association, told The AP. "We found ourselves as physicians getting dozens and dozens of these a day and not having time built in to do that work."

For instance, according to The AP, a representative for the University of California San Francisco Health, said doctors received 3 million messages in one year and, as a result, subsequently informed patients that they will start getting charged for certain inquiries. 

Hospitals, in some cases, can charge a Medicare patient $3 for an inquiry but if you are uninsured the cost could run up to $160, per the outlet. 

According to The AP, sending inquiries like a photo of a rash may result in a bill. Advocates argue that new charges may make patients more hesitant to contact their doctor. 

"This is a barrier that denies access and will result in hesitancy or fear to communicate and potentially harm patients with lower quality of care and outcomes at a much higher cost," the founder of Patient Rights Advocate, Cynthia Fisher, told The Associated Press.