Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

Anthony Dennison — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 11:49:06 GMT

We have varying prices. Full abdominal scan is about £100, bladder/reproductive tract scan is around £60, pregnancy scan £50.

The full scan and bladder also have a 'daily inpatient fee' to cover costs of time prepping/cleaning the kennel and the machine. About £7 for dogs and £4 for cats.

I do a lot of scanning at my practice, and can measure adrenals, have done FNAs in the past but not often required. Charge for me to do a scan is exactly the same as someone less experienced - often I will repeat if FOC after they've had a go with the vet so they can learn that way. We have a specialist scanner that comes in when required, charges about £300 for a full scan.

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

nikki — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 12:42:21 GMT

We charge around £65 for a free fluid scan, pregnancy scan etc. A limited abdo scan is around £175. Usually just looking at liver/spleen or similar. I tend to scan the whole abdo regardless just for practice though. Full abdo scan is £220. This includes pancreas, adrenals, lymph nodes, intestinal and stomach wall thickness etc. Full echo is a similar price. Repeat ones slightly less. I scan on average 2 animals a day. Sometimes 4 or 5.

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

Clive Ansell — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 17:27:26 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]looking at the figures other posters have quoted I would say they are too low, they don't even look as though they are charging properly for their time/expertise let alone starting to recoup the cost of the machine, even over an extended period.[/quote]

That's really why I listed the cost of a human abdominal ultrasound scan, to put it into context. £550 is a lot of money though; that said you get to see the big cheese and it was extremely thorough and his prognosis spot on.

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 14:45:21 GMT

[quote user="Nick Taylor"]We can work out what our costs/visit are assuming a five year straight line depreciation. However what is not clear is what we should charge our clients.[/quote]I went to a practice management course a while ago and the speaker asked us what period we would consider reasonable to re-coup the cost of an expensive piece of equipment? Most people said something between 3 - 5 years. He then told us that when Tesco open a super-store they would have recouped all the start-up costs within 9 months!

This should give serious cause for thought in what we expect from our profitability. I don't have ultrasound now but looking at the figures other posters have quoted I would say they are too low, they don't even look as though they are charging properly for their time/expertise let alone starting to recoup the cost of the machine, even over an extended period. Surely for a simple scan you've got to charge at least what you would for an X-ray which in my practice would be a minimum £70 for a cat £100 for a large dog, and for a complex scan the equivalent of 3-4 X-rays; for each additional one of those I do, which are of diagnostic quality, I charge £37.

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

Clive Ansell — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 14:14:24 GMT

Across the practices I regularly locum for prices range:

Pregnancy or a "quick" ultrasound £30 - £46 (Not giving numbers, just yes or no to pregnancy)

standard ultrasound £70 - £125

Cardiac ultrasound £99 - £135

One practices uses a visiting certificate holder, her standard fee is £240 I think

An elderly relative had a private abdominal ultrasound at a BUPA clinic about 3 years ago, with a consultant ultrasonographer = £550.

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

Julie Innes — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 14:14:14 GMT

We are reasonably cheap for ultrasound at £31.50 for the average scan. This is because I don't consider myself at all expert, and am really only able to do a basic scan. For looking at adrenals etc we would refer/ get a specialist that we know in.

When I got my ultrasound I did swither about whether it would be a sound investment, as it wasn't likely to pay for itself any time quickly. My dad told me an old business adage- that if you need a piece of equipment to do your job and you don't buy it, you end up paying for it without having it!! So I bought it, more because I felt we should have it than because it would make money. it's v. useful for pyos/ pregnancy diagnosis, splenic and liver masses, and we're getting better at looking at kidneys and possibly spotting adrenals (although wouldn't be confident!!!), and so the price for a scan will rise.

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

Rob Loxley — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 13:42:43 GMT

We have a price for a full abdominal or cardiac scan which is based on the 'average' time taken, cost of machine etc. If you bill it by the minutes taken then the clients are maybe paying more for the slower inexperienced vet than the experienced quicker vet, and people often have a tendancy to underestimate how long it takes to do it properly.
We also have a 'quick' scan price for the quick look at a liver/bladder/pleural effusion etc. which encourages all these little scans to be billed, which all adds up.
We have a price for pregnancy diagnosis

RE: Pricing for Ultrasound Scans

Neil Wheadon — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 11:57:21 GMT

As a guide, a lot of practices charge 2 bands

1) The quick scan, a liver, pyometra, FAST scan. In the region of £60

2) A more detailed scan for £150

Now the can of worms bit. I have seen a lot of vets wave a scanner and in my humble opinion to varying degrees of competency. I worked with a brilliant vet recently who with one hand could do his own FNA histology, whilst with the other hand was finding, measuring and telling me that adrenal glands are normally of a certain size and shape (one side is peanut shaped) and finding them as well. In this case he's worth the £150. Personally and another recent poster on here does 3 a day, it's all about practice and I feel your charging should reflect how good you actually are at it

Neil