Accessing appropriate and timely medical care can be challenging enough when living with a disability. For those applying for disability-related income support programs, their ability to receive income support becomes inextricably tied to their ability to obtain timely and thorough medical documentation.
We know that doctors want to support their patients, and at the same time, often do not have access to adequate public billing options for the time they spend filling out crucial medical documentation. Unfortunately, the high fees some doctors charge for medical documentation can be a significant barrier to successful ODSP applications and appeals, and access to other legal entitlements.
As part of ISAC’s multi-pronged approach to the problem of high fees for medical documentation, we have prepared a two-page fact sheet designed specifically for community legal clinic caseworkers to send to doctors along with the clinic’s initial requests for medical records or reports. This brief document sets out doctors’ professional obligations and guidance on what to do and what not to do when charging fees for providing patient records and reports. We also hope this can be a helpful resource for caseworkers when trying to negotiate lower fees. Click here to access the PDF version of this resource, which is also posted in the Publications section of our website.
Note: Community legal clinics who use this document should remove ISAC’s name from the last page and replace it with their clinic name. A modifiable Word version of this document is available for community legal clinic staff on the CRO’s internal resource website.