Surgery Pricing

2020 Surgery Pricing

Pet Emergency & Specialist Centre

In Melbourne there has been a steady demand for advances in veterinary medicine as there has been worldwide. Many aspiring ambitious vets have embarked on advanced training programs and become specialists seeking to offer the best to their pets and clients.

I believe the growth of referral practice has slowly driven prices up to the consumer. Pet insurance allows some clients to afford care but this is limited to those who are proactive and organized. Often we see clients decline surgical procedures as the costs are not affordable to them.

As referral practice has expanded, some centres have transitioned from having experienced registered specialists perform all of the surgical procedures to allowing trainees in surgery (residents / registrars) take referrals likely at the same or similar cost.

Personally, I have refrained from this strategy for 20 years as I believe the referring vets, patients and clients deserve the best I could offer as my skill set and knowledge base keep improving.

Frequently, especially from rural families, we respond to price enquiries and see patients with treatable conditions decline referral solely based on the inability to afford care. This now happens with such frequency that I have decided to launch a suite of value packages to address this problem. PESC has two surgical trainees who will be involved but the operation will be supervised by myself in a controlled environment. The primary goal is to allow care to be provided at low cost by involving supervised trainees to run these cases and limit hospitalization, multimodal analgesia and extensive workups.

Over many years the LSAH have generously provided lower cost options and  payment plans to assist those in need when faced with expensive and unexpected vet bills. PESC hopes to provide an option for your clients knowing you may have established relationships with other referral partners and your client may not be close to us.

Veterinarians need to be aware of these when offering packages to clients in order to avoid misunderstandings and elevated expectations. Clients can elect to add to the base packages if they see value on the day of service but this is their personal choice and not mandatory.

The Fine Print:

Complimentary pickup service to replace consultation if clinic within 30 min driving range of PESC.

Local vet provides: NSAIDs, rechecks, followup calls and perform x-rays / bandage changes / histopathology.

Up to 8 hours hospital provided: admit 8am – 10am / discharge 4pm – 6pm Mon-Fri. Late pickup fees apply.

No payment plans / client pays 100% upfront before Sx.

Clients may see trainee surgeon for consultation and nurse / trainee discharge without seeing a specialist.

Fixed price overnight care $500 for IVFs, opioids, vet supervision can be elected in all cases.