Price of Cushings test

[holeymoley]

What is the price of this lately? I thought I had paid my bill but I’ve now been given another one and it seems a bit steep in total.

Just a basic blood test for cushings with results. Combined it with vaccinations and other call outs so no visiting fee.

 

[fankino04]

Mine was £110 a few months ago including her jabs and she was the only horse at the yard they came to so no split call out

 

[HelenBack]

I've just had one done and it was £15 to collect the blood and £46 for the test. And then callout on top of that. I think our vets are expensive lately so would be interested to know how it compares.

 

[holeymoley]

I’m currently sitting at £18 for blood sample. £11.98 to post to lab in cool pack. £88 for lab test and results.

Eek

 

[HelenBack]

Gosh! I've decided my vets aren't that pricey after all!

 

[meleeka]

There’s usually a voucher system where the actual test is free. I paid £37 processing fee a few months ago, but that’s all. One was a first test and one an annual test for a pony already medicated.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Jan 2022 (excluding visit fee)

Blood pull £6.37
Liphook lab fees £36.20

total £42.57

prices inc VAT

 

[druid]

Depends which lab your vet uses. The lab I use for send out tests charges nearly £70 for cushings bloods

 

[Hobo2]

I will find out next month just had my mares 6 month check. She also had her flu jab so I am sure it will ad up!

 

[cauda equina]

There’s usually a voucher system where the actual test is free. I paid £37 processing fee a few months ago, but that’s all. One was a first test and one an annual test for a pony already medicated.

I've just had a freebie - the company that makes Prascend will pay for them to be done

 

[hobo]

CE yes there are still free tests though you pay for your own vet time. You get a free one if horse has never been tested before . If they are being treated you get one free one a year but I always do two tests a year just to keep up to date with how things are doing they also do an insulin test at high risk times and if there are any concerns. I must say my mare has been great on one tablet so far.

 

[Birker2020]

There’s usually a voucher system where the actual test is free. I paid £37 processing fee a few months ago, but that’s all. One was a first test and one an annual test for a pony already medicated.

I used a voucher system for Bailey, think it was around the £80 mark for voucher, vet attending on a zone day and 'injection technique' and 'aseptic technique' brought it up to around the £90 mark I believe from memory.

'Injection technique' and 'aseptic technique' Have you ever heard anything so dumb in all your life????? Give me the bl**dy wipe and needle and I'll save a packet.

 

[asmp]

I just paid £25 to take the bloods, plus £8 admin fee plus share of call out. The test was free.

 

[druid]

'Injection technique' and 'aseptic technique' Have you ever heard anything so dumb in all your life????? Give me the bl**dy wipe and needle and I'll save a packet.

Will you be paying for your vet's university education, life on call, continuing education etc? Is it any wonder vets are frustrated with owners when this is the attitude of so many

 

[Birker2020]

Will you be paying for your vet's university education, life on call, continuing education etc? Is it any wonder vets are frustrated with owners when this is the attitude of so many

Its one way of increasing the bill. And its nothing to do with the vets themselves but the business giant who bought up the practice, one of thousands across the country https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...nap-vets-amid-rising-bills-welfare-fears.html

Its the same with x-rays. You don't just pay for the call out, the xray machine and the xray plates, you now have to pay for 'interpretation' which in my view should be part and parcel of the visit.

When people vote with their feet (which scores of people did to a rival practice) they might realise its not the way to go.

 

[druid]

I'm an independant vet clinic owner - I have an injection fee charge

 

[Birker2020]

I'm an independant vet clinic owner - I have an injection fee charge

So you charge a separate fee to use a wipe and another fee for the injection technique? Wow, my current vets don't.

 

[ihatework]

So you charge a separate fee to use a wipe and another fee for the injection technique? Wow, my current vets don't.

How do you know they don’t? It might not be split out as an item on the invoice, but I suspect it’s built into the fee.

 

[Birker2020]

How do you know they don’t? It might not be split out as an item on the invoice, but I suspect it’s built into the fee.

My last vet used to itemise it so I assumed it would be the same. But I'm not going to argue with you.

 

[Gamebird]

Basically, you pay for everything somewhere. The only difference is how it's worded on the bill. And if your vet does cheap blood tests, then you're probably paying more on a consult fee. Or for radiography. Or for out of hours call outs. There are regional variations, as with every service - vet or non-vet, but the cost of providing a veterinary practice is roughly the same from practice to practice.

We charge £29.50 inc. VAT for 'blood sample and interpretation'. For transparency our practice is corporate owned, however when we were independent we charged the same fee. Take off the VAT (which we are just collecting for the government!) and we have £24.58 income from a blood test. Lab fees are billed to the client at cost price (ie. the same as the lab charges us), so are not part of the equation.

This covers:

• consumables - blood tubes, needles, vacutainer holders etc.
• time - not just the time taken to stick a needle in the horse (and this is an average - some horses are 2 seconds, others can be 10 minutes), but the time discussing whether we need a blood test, what we might test for, and what it might show. Again, an average. A repeat ACTH probably needs little discussion; bloods for a weight loss investigation might be a prolonged 20 minute discussion.
• packaging and postage - time, plus materials, plus the time for someone to take it to the post office or arrange a courier
• reading and interpreting results - simple tests might be quick, complicated tests might require research, speaking to specialist clinicians at the lab etc. Again, time.
• contacting the owner with the results - sometimes a 5 minute phone call, other times it takes several attempts over a day or two to get hold of the owner and a long in-depth discussion about what the results mean, and what we are going to do next.
• time (again!) - for billing the test and making detailed clinical notes of the results, what was discussed, what course of action was advised, and what was decided upon.

Also, as vets, our only source of income is what clients pay us for services delivered. No money comes in from any other source. So from every blood sampling fee (or consult fee, or whatever) fee etc. a small proportion has to pay all of the normal business costs - staff wages (vets, nurses and receptionists), rent, rates, vehicles, energy, CPD etc. etc. etc. I cannot stress enough that every single vet client will be paying for these items one way or another - the only difference is what is actually itemised as what on your invoice.

As a clinical director making these sums add up every day turns my hair grey. I hope that you can appreciate how far the £24.58 that you pay for having a blood sample taken actually has to stretch. I can assure you that no-one is getting rich!

 

[ihatework]

Quite frankly it’s ludicrous how little vets charge a lot of the time, especially equine/large animal in comparison to small animal.

 

[druid]

So you charge a separate fee to use a wipe and another fee for the injection technique? Wow, my current vets don't.

And I can bet my blood draw prices are probably lower. Either you bundle or you itemise everything seprately, the costs end up the same but one is more transparent

Thank you Gamebird for saying very eloquently what I wanted to but didn't have the time to write and rewrite

 

[Gamebird]

Today I was the only vet working in my practice (others on holiday, or on CPD etc.). I had a new grad on their first day to introduce to working here. I did three visits - one for a blood test, one for 3 sets of teeth, and one for two vaccinations and to discuss a skin case. The rest of the day was taken up with showing the new vet the ropes, kitting their car out, showing them how the PMS system works, where everything lives and how to use it etc. etc. Those 3 routine visits today have had to pay for 4 sets of vet wages (the vets on holiday and CPD are still being paid, and the new grad on their first day is being paid - even though not one of them brought any income to the practice today), two admin staff wages, the cost of the CPD course, all the fuel, time, drugs etc, and all the building/business costs. It doesn't even come close!

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

Have a look at Care About Cushing's website, it gives you a voucher so the test is free think you just have to pay lab costs. I used to time mine with when he needed then dentist (had to be sedated) so I had the call out for multiple aspects