According to a US PIRG report, more people visiting hospital doctors' offices are receiving a surprise additional fee that often has no relation to the treatment or consultation they require.

According to research, more patients are experiencing "installation fees" that can cost up to $25 and are generally reflected in Medical bills after annual checkups.

Regarding this, Patricia Kelmar, senior director of healthcare campaigns at US PIRG and one of the report's authors, emphasized that "we don't want to pay hospital fees for services we never went to the hospital for. This drives up prices and makes people hesitant to get their regular treatments and checkups. They're being charged overhead costs that have no relation to the care they received," she said.

According to the analysis, “installation fees” are charged by hospitals to offset the high costs and prices of overhead expenses such as night shifts, specialized equipment, and other items. However, incurring these charges can negatively impact patients, as they increase their medical costs and sometimes discourage them from using healthcare altogether. Kelmer explained that, "a patient gets an annual physical or follow-up checkup, and because the doctor they've been seeing for years is now owned by a hospital that has taken over billing, they can charge facility fees. People don't know this before they go, or they see a sign in the doctor's office after they've missed work or hired a babysitter, saying, 'This place may charge a facility fee,' without specifying the amount. Same-day notification is useless. By then, it's too beats,” she emphasized. 

The US PIRG study also indicated that approximately 50% of community clinics are owned by hospitals, so these fees are often unavoidable for many patients who use this service. In this regard, Kelmer stated, "They are undermining the entire system. We need to eliminate facility fees and encourage more states to collect data and require more hospitals to report the fees charged by providers. We need a certain level of transparency. People need to be informed," she said.