Results from my discussion with the vet bill

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ChrystalPaths

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Well, it was very civil. I explained myself and my upsets. He countered with the expected platitudes. He disagrees with me about the lab costs and will still not break down the bill he got from Cornell/Texas, so I believe he has them padded.

His Bill is: $233.64 added on is the bill for the cultures from Cornell/Texas which is $321.00.

Vet has reduced his bill by 70.00 and insists the rest is correct. I said I would sent out a check for $163.64. I also told him I would be contacting Cornell for an itemized bill and would let them know I felt it was abit high. We'll see what happens. $321 is ridiculous for 2 cultures. I don't care if it is Cornell, they aren't God. It will be interesting to see if indeed the balance due is $321 or less.

The epic continues.
 
Good for you, sounds like you went with the right attitude. It does annoy me when I think I am being taken for a ride.
 
I am glad you talked to him also. It will be interesting to see what Cornell has to say! It seems suspiscious that he will not itemize the bill for you! jennfier
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I was charged $100 for them (Cornell) to read a biopsy of Danny's skin in the summer.
 
Debi I have to tell you something:

One time I had a quarter horse mare X rayed and ran lab tests on and they were sent off to the University here.

Well I could never get a hold of the vet that did this and I was anxious to hear the report. I waited for days and he never returned my call so I took it upon myself to call the University myself.

Well they gave me the results and explained things to me.

Within minutes my phone rang and it was the lousy vet that did all this testing. He reemed me out like you cannot imagine for going "over his head" to get my results and said I had no business doing that. Protocal I guess. He also called the University and reemed them a new butt too.

Well my defense was that he wouldn't return my calls for days and I was sick of waiting and wanted to know what was wrong with my mare and I didn't think that was wrong at all but he surely did.

Sure was interesting how come when I called the University he called me immediately but managed to ignore my calls. hmmmmmmmm
 
First I want to KISS Christine from Little Steppers!
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She sent me a link to Cornell that lists all the tests and their price!
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Care to guess the difference in price?

Billed by my vet for tests from Cornell.....$368.88

Cornell charges for listed tests is.....$189.50

Alrighty then...whatcha think of that!
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I plan to call Cornell tomorrow and get my acct number and send them a check. The vet gets $163.64 and IMHO it is still too darn much! Got me a new vet.
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Billed by my vet for tests from Cornell.....$368.88

Cornell charges for listed tests is.....$189.50

Alrighty then...whatcha think of that!

[/b]Doesnt that just burn your butt????????? Thats so great u got the actual charges for each test. I sure would be interested to see what the explanation is for that discrepancy.
 
Usually a University bills services (lab work) directly to the submitting doctor and not the patient/client of the veterinarian. Unless of course you took your horse directly to the University and then you would pay at the time the servies are given. However, lab results would not be available for several days to weeks depending on the test which are run, some are complete in 24 hours but others (cultures) can take weeks.
 
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BRAVO CHRISTINE !!!! QUEEN OF LINKS!!!!!
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Atta girl Deb, give 'em heck!!!
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If that were me I would be letting that vet have it. I would not be putting up with that one bit. I wish you the best of luck!
 
That is good news that you got to see exactly where you were being ripped off. My vet apparently does not subscribe to the same theory as mentioned above, that they have to make a bunch of money on the tests to have a good living.

He is very fair and reasonable with all of his charges and I highly doubt he would care if I paid the lab directly rather than he, for any tests he ran.

If he did, indeed, add anything, it would be a truly reasonable amount.

Maybe because my vet services all kinds of animals be they pets or a creature that is here only to make money for its owner, he seems to be quite fair.

I think Deb's case was extreme and the entire thing was handled badly, so she is right on in contesting all of this, as it involves this vet and no others, she's merely passing a judgment call on him, not all others of the profession.

I'm glad you are getting your "money's" worth, so to speak...

Liz M.
 
Gee Liz, I thank you very very much and you explained it so perfectly.
 
GREAT DETECTIVE WORK!

When we have a test done the charges are always listed, even the cost of UPSing the samples to a particular lab or university. And there is no extra vet fee for doing this.

Please keep us informed of your next vet visit...........
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Why aren't we angry that Cornell charged $189 for the lab work??? It did not cost them that much and they made some profit from that fee. A veterinary student who pays full tutition to Cornell set the culture in the lab, babysat it and interpreted the results. Eventually a paid staff Dr. looked at the results to confirm the findings and report them out.
 
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There are a number of vets in this area that we do not deal with. Costs are just out of sight. The veternary clinics in town or on the edge of our nearest city are more than triple what our vet charges. Bring a dog in for normal shots (rabies, parvo etc) would be over ninety dollars where out vet charges twenty per dog if he does them during a routine farm call. One of them commented the vet in our nearest town had a condo in Bermuda owned by the practice and all of the personnel got to use it . My comment was thats fine as long as they were not expecting me to pay the airfares down there every month. The original part of Demis post was her concern over the two week (or there abouts) delay from the time he was called and the second call he made after coming poorly equipped to do his job the first trip. Having test results for a condition that basically corrected itself before the test was actually taken I do believe was the original cause of frustration.
 
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Thank you Vic, (justaboutgeese) that is precisely my complaint. Had this vet cured my horse or treated her in a timely manner I would have no complaints. I am well aware of the retail ways of service. Mark ups happen. This vet was called to look into an EYE problem. He showed up inprepared without his EYE equipment. It took him 10 days to return! For an eye problem. I probably should have turned him away but I gave him the benfit of the doubt. I have known this man for 9 yrs and this is the first time I have felt let down. Between myself and Dr Pam we made her all better. I agreed to pay for certain costs of course but to find he inflated Cornells bill was the last straw. I would be more than happy to provide an itemized bill for you to see.

I thank those of you who understand for your support and caring. Rose is 100% healthy and happy.
 
While of course the vet would have to charge a bit more for one getting the samples to the lab and paying for that service i would wonder to if a rush was put on it?

I know here the state lab charges an additional 5 bucks to fax results to my vet if we dont wait for the mail (talking coggins here)
 


Deb, could you please send me that link??

Thanks,

Nan
 

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