Help me understand a vet charge

Status
Not open for further replies.
Howiesmom

Howiesmom

Member Since 2020
Friday Howie got his first injection of Solensia during his senior check-up. I called and talked to the tech today because they charged me an injection charge on top of the cost of the vial of Solensia (and a charge for his wellness exam). The injection charge was within $2 of the cost of the vial! The tech said the charge was a combo of a lot of things besides the vet shoving a syringe in his scruff for 10 seconds including the set-up and bio disposal of the syringe/vial. I’m really struggling with that reasoning as I already paid for the vet’s time of the check-up, the bloodwork, urinalysis, parasite check and the cost of the vial. There didn’t seem to be anything special to prep Howie for this injection and then they just threw the syringe in a sharps container. I’ve never had him get any sort of injection outside of his vaccines (and there is no “injection charge” for those.) For anyone who has more experience/knowledge, is this normal? Is it rude to contact my vet directly about it? I’m sure the tech gave me their standard answer, but after spending hundreds of dollars for his appt, I just don’t want to feel taken advantage of. I have to go back in a month for a second injection that one of the techs will give (so not my vet). It’s been a very expensive month for Howie as he had this appt, max levemir refill from Marks, cabergoline refill from Wedgewood, and his food order. The perfect storm of expenses :(
 
It is standard practice for both vet and human medicine to charge for administer an injection in addition to the cost for the actual injection drug. Exception is for standard/routine injections like rabies vaccination and human standard vaccinations.
This is based on their business/billing model. Art the end it averages out.Like you at first I thought is was strange and I was being taken advantage of.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
It is standard practice for both vet and human medicine to charge for administer an injection in addition to the cost for the actual injection drug. Exception is for standard/routine injections like rabies vaccination and human standard vaccinations.
This is based on their business/billing model. Art the end it averages out.Like you at first I thought is was strange and I was being taken advantage of.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for responding and normalizing it for me. It was quite a shock when I reviewed the invoice (don’t get to see it before I pay). I understand cost of doing business, but this wasn’t a separate appointment…it was time my vet was spending with me anyway.
 
What Larry said. I've been to vets where they don't break the charges out, but my current one does. Includes the injection fee, meds, sharps disposal/handling, invoicing fee. They all add up to a reasonable cost, it must just be how they track time spent/specific costs.
 
Howiesmom said:
$42 for the injection and $44 for the vial.
Click to expand...
As to whether this is typical, I suspect it depends on where you live, the size of the clinic, their policies, and how “granular” they are with pricing. As Larry and Melissa said, it’s standard to charge injection fees at some clinics … as well as venipuncture fees for drawing blood/urine, a minimum price for any meds dispensed (for example, $10 might be the lowest fee for any medication that is dispensed, so I learned to ask for enough pills to cover the minimum price), and a whole host of other line item fees you would think would be included elsewhere. Other clinics just roll all of those (what I call nickle and dime) things into a single charge.

That said, clinics do make mistakes. I’ve been overcharged more times than I can count and I’ve learned that it’s usually ok to question a line item as long as it’s done politely and in the context of wanting to understand the bill (and to be able to set expectations and plan for next time).

If the dose was pulled from the vial you were purchasing, then I would wonder whether $42 is a standard “injection only” fee or whether it was the fee for injection + drug (i.e., if the drug was taken from their inventory). I would consider that a fair question. And again, it helps set expectations for the future. Sometimes the front desk knows the answer, but I’ve often had to run it by the vet to confirm. Who actually inputs the charges can vary by clinic (sometimes it’s more than one person). These days I ask for a printout of the tentative bill before I pay so I can ask questions and resolve confusion on the spot. A “thank you for explaining” never hurts either.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top