If you have been to the GP without paying by card or cash on the spot, you risk getting 71 kroner in fees with the invoice – whether it is physical or digital. The practice is contrary to the health authorities’ intentions, and perhaps also to the law, the Consumer Council believes. The Consumer Council has taken a closer look at the fees charged at doctors’ offices around the country. In a recent report, they present the findings of the survey, and suggest that the authorities should intervene and stop the fee practice. – UNSTABLE: Claes Tofte has had trouble with Convene, on behalf of his 96-year-old mother. Photo: Wilhelm Sverdvik / news Proposes a ban The Consumer Council has now sent its report to the Norwegian Consumer Agency, which is in the process of investigating whether the fee practice may be an offense. – In any case, we believe that there is an easy way to stop this: A ban on the collection of fees for digital invoices and a ceiling of NOK 35 for mailed invoices. It will reduce income and make it easier and cheaper to be a patient, says director of the Consumer Council Inger Lise Blyverket. WILL SAVE PATIENTS: Inger Lise Blyverket from the Consumer Council will stop fee practice. Photo: John Trygve Tollefsen / Forbrukerrådet – But there are invoicing fees for most things elsewhere as well? – Not for digitally sent invoices. Mailed invoices can be subject to a fee. For example, the debt collection industry has a statutory ceiling of NOK 35, which we believe should apply to mailed invoices in the health care system as well. But digital invoices should be free of charge, says Blyverket. Avoid contacting Convene Convene is the company that dominates the market for managing invoices in the healthcare system. Claes Tofte has had trouble with Convene, on behalf of his 96-year-old mother. The mother received an invoice, with an invoice fee and they paid for the actual consultation she had been on the board, but it was not registered with Convene. – Then we get a reminder fee with invoices, surcharges and all the weird supplements that they come with, and then a collection notice in the end, Tofte says. Claes Tofte’s mother finally received a debt collection notice. Tofte’s mother had not paid electronically at the doctor’s office because the machine they had there did not work. Tofte says he sent many emails to Convene, which were not answered. – There will only be a new reminder and a new notice, says Tofte. – How did you experience the contact with Convene? – I do not know if I should call it contact at all. It is sometimes very difficult to reach them by phone, then you like to sit and wait both a quarter of an hour and 20 minutes, as I have done up to several times, says Tofte. – Unsustainable In the end, Tofte decided to seek out the offices of Convene at Skøyen in Oslo. There he was greeted by three employees. – Then I was informed that the claim was dropped and that they should send me an e-mail confirming this. They have not yet done so. I have urged it, says Tofte. – How do you react to the size of the fees? – It can not cost 79 kroner to send an invoice electronically, because that is what they do, they send it by e-mail. It is completely unsustainable, says Tofte. Tofte points out that not all older people have an e-mail address. – And I who then handle things are told that they can not answer me, because this is personally protected information. Then it’s almost like I start laughing instead of crying, says Tofte. The General Practitioners ‘Association: – Must be adapted to everyone – We have many who struggle to use digital solutions and then we must have systems that also meet their needs, says Nils Kristian Klev, who is the leader of the General Practitioners’ Association. STRUGGLING: Nils Kristian Klev, leader of the general practitioners’ association, says they have many who are struggling to use digital solutions. Photo: General Practitioners’ Association According to the report, two per cent are unable to pay and ten per cent experience that there are significant difficulties in getting paid. The medical association believes that the system must be improved so that everyone can use it. – It may sound insignificant, when it works well for the majority, but we believe that this must be adapted to everyone. And we also have a gender equality law in this country, which will facilitate universal design of solutions, so this is something the suppliers must take into account, says Klev. Klev says that they know from experience that the elderly or disabled can have problems relating to digital solutions. At the same time, the General Practitioners’ Association does not believe that one should go back to the way it was before, when one received an invoice in the mail, but they demand adapted solutions and greater freedom of choice. The suppliers benefit from what the Consumer Council’s report shows that the suppliers of the payment systems earn well on the fees. They provide more revenue than the payment service itself. – There is several times as much money to be made from the actual invoice collection than it is to sell the payment solution to GPs. The company Convene, which has a dominant market share in the GP sector, writes this clearly in its annual reports and financial statements, says Blyverket, before adding: – We believe this is unfortunate and goes against the health authorities’ intentions, which clearly states that patients must pay for health services through the deductible, no extra fees are imposed for administrative costs, she says. Convene: It has a cost – First and foremost, it is important for me to say that we offer a number of free payment options, which most people use. It can be short, it can be via mobile phone and then it is also possible to pay via cash at our terminals, which we have at the various clinics, says Ingvill Hestenes, general manager of Convene AS. The horses say their fee is the size of the other industries. – Those who then choose to postpone the payment, they will then be sent an invoice, which then has one fee, says Hestenes. Sending out and handling invoice administration has a cost associated with the infrastructure, Hestenes explains. She also points out that a number of people are required, both in terms of developing it, operating it and follow-up. . – The Consumer Council thinks you have tailored a payment journey where people easily end up in debt collection through another of Convene’s companies? – This is completely wrong. We are concerned with delivering good payment alternatives, and most people make use of it. Through our solution, we work continuously to facilitate, to avoid that fee. That is, we have SMSs that go out and remind people that they have outstanding. We also have our own teams, which call out actively, to ensure that individuals avoid receiving a higher fee than necessary, says Hestnes. Hestenes says Convene is concerned with making it easy for everyone to make up for it. – We deliver the IT technical solution, which means that we have no idea about the condition of the patients. But what we know are two things: We know that it is those over 65 who are best at paying for themselves, and then we know that the large number of those who postpone the payment, it is men between 20 and 45 years, says Hestenes .
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The Consumer Council wants a ban on digital fees at the doctor – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
