"Earlier this year, some Ohio residents were outraged to discover that a $55 facility charge was being tacked onto bills from nine family health centers owned by the Cleveland Clinic. Some patients complained that they were given no notice; others told the Cleveland Plain Dealer they had received a letter they couldn't understand stating that "services will now be grouped into two categories on your billing statement."
Just figuring out whether a doctor is part of a hospital outpatient clinic can be difficult. While some clinics are distant from a hospital, others are in the same building, sometimes on the same floor as doctors who are not part of such a clinic -- and do not collect a facility fee.
At Georgetown University Hospital, patients who receive treatment in four outpatient centers, all in the hospital complex, are charged a facility fee. Among these clinics are the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Foot and Ankle Center. But patients who visit, say, an ear, nose and throat specialist who is part of the "faculty practice plan" and has an office in the same building aren't charged the fee. A similar situation prevails at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore."
