Charged for Veterinary Report?

HannahPatsy

HannahPatsy

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12 January 2009
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Hi there,
Just wondering if it is normal for vets to charge for a written report?
My insurance requested a referral report from the vet I originally used when my horse went lame (I went back to my usual vet the 2nd time she went lame). The 1st vet said he didn't actually refer my horse so couldn't provide this? So I asked them to send just a written report of their findings instead - after a bit of chasing and no mention of costs, I received a written report in the post with a bill for £47!!
I was not informed that there would be a cost so am quite reluctant to pay it - surely they should have advised me of this beforehand?
Can anyone advise?
Thanks
 
Afraid that is normal practice. Your insurer should pay that's why vets charge so in my opinion! Drs also charge when asked for notes to be sent for private consultations too. Nothing free now. :(
 
We have recently introduced a fee for writing such reports. It used to be an occasional request but over the last couple of years it has become so frequent (and clients often want the report the day of, or day after I have seen the horse) that it now constitutes a significant part of my working day.

Each report takes me around 10 minutes to dictate; 15 minutes for the secretaries to type; another 15 minutes of my time to correct and add radiographs, pictures etc and finally another 5 minutes of secretarial time to print and post or convert to a pdf and email. I would do up to 6 reports per day during busy times of the year and it usually means I have an hour or so of "paperwork" to finish on my laptop after clinical work. Don't get me wrong I don't think its unreasonable to ask a professional person to provide a written (or electronic) report: but equally I don't see a problem with charging a professional fee, we are business trying to make a profit.

I would be surprised if your insurance company picked up the tab, if you read the "what your covered for" section you can be sure.
 
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