QUESTION #688: I had a patient come in who didn’t have any money for the copayment. They have lab result to pick up, and I want to hold onto the results until they pay the copay that is owed. Can I do this?

ANSWER (07/08/2008): You cannot refuse a patient’s request for medical records because of an unpaid bill for health services. There are ways that you can try and collect the copay while the patient is in the office, as well as charge interest on that copay.

CMA ON-CALL: #0110, “Billing Patients” — available free to members at http://www.cmanet.org.