This is addressing the prescription fee for dispensed pred. This is a
very touchy subject with me so I'll try not to go overboard.
Everybody thinks vets make sooo much money. Compared to human medicine
it's a steal. We undergo the same type of training but we need to train
for multiple species. The work and diagnostics are much harder. It's
not uncommon for a vet to come ut of school as much as $100,000 in debt
and graduate to a job that pays $40,000. Even as an owner I started
my clinic a few years ago and am lucky if I make $24,000 right now.
Everyone wants the vet that is up-to-date, equipped, etc. - costs $.
Overhead on a veterinary hospital is staggering. A human physician has
a small office, some staff, and some minor equipment. For that you pay
$70 to $120 for an office visit. I don't regret them that. That's the
way it should be for what they invest in time, training, etc. Contrast
that to about $40 at the vet while maintaining hopitalization
facilities, X-ray facilities, a pharmacy, treatment facilities, etc.
HUGE differrence. And these facilities must be maintained and available
as needed. Who do you think absorbs the cost of a drug when only 20
tablets have been used from the bottle and there is 80 left and they've
expired? Not everything stocked is used before expiration so it is a
loss to the hospital. Yet clients need these things when their pet is
sick. You can't just order when needed and wait. Veterinarians do their
clients a service by stocking medications. If you had to go to the
human pharmacy for all your pets meds it would astound you on what
you'd pay. Same manufacturers and same drug just different labeling (by
the way it costs us just as much as the human form dispensed). We take
far less mark-up.
As more people self vaccinate, self diagnose and medicate, income
sources must be reallocated. As income from routine services drops,
prices for medical and surgical procedures have to go up and do. A
hospital has to have a certain amount of income to meet it's bills.
People think that vets just jack prices and pocket more money. To the
contrary, vet medicine is competative. Prices are increased to keep
even with costs. On lists of professions, ours is listed as one of
the most stressful and lowest income for the amount of education,
investment and work hours. You can't pay the bills, there is no
veterinary hopital for owners to go to. We won't even go into the
increased costs for compying with government increasing regulations.
To be perfectly honest I could have gone into plastic surgery and be
FAR better off. I chose the animals.
Did all you out there know that the incoming classes into the
veterinary schools are almost all women? Know why? One of the biggies
is that you can't make enough money in the field to support a family.
Pretty sad. But it's reality. Enuf of that.
Back to the prescription fee. I do charge a fee in certain select
cases. Only if it's a drug I stock. In the illustrated situation I
would not have charged the fee if I didn't carry the form of the drug
preferred. When we prescribe it is a service no different than someone
like a notary. We have to write or call the prescription, keep details
in the record, there may be government records, and we're using our
license to prescribe. Takes time and resources. It's a service. Well my
human doctor doesn't do that you say. No, his costs are covered in his
bigger office fee. His income is not partially dependent on his drug
income so he doesn't have to maintain a pharmacy. They script out your
meds and you pay the pharmacy price. Most people have insurance so when
was the last time you looked at your medication prices for your own
meds. Example - same eye ointment, same manufacuturer. Human price $18.
My clients price $6. Do you really want all your pets meds scripted? I
think not.
If you are not comfortable with your veterinarians prices or policies
do them the courtesy of asking them for an explanation before bashing
them. Believe it or not most vets are your very best friend when it
comes to helping your beloved friends and are still one of the best
deals available for the money. By the way those vets out there that
spend their extra time and money on educating themselves so they can
help ferrets (ferrets and exotics are not part of mainstream teaching
in vet school) or other exotics should be charging, much like a
dermatologist, surgeon, etc., much higher prices for working on these
exotics in return for their extra effort. Yet they really don't. What
would ferret owners do if no vets cared enough to spend their own time
and resources on educating themselves so they can help you? Without
pioneers like Dr. Brown and others like her ferret medicine would be
far behind where it is now
Didn't mean to write a book but the face of veterinary medicine is
changing and I'd rather a client ask me if something is bothering
them rather that complain without any knowledge.
Ginger Leis D.V.M.
Saginaw,MI
[Posted in FML 5548]
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