Article written by Dr. Grant Jacobson and first appearing as a blog at hometownveterinarian.com, April 2024
Do veterinarians really charge an arm and a leg?
While I cannot personally speak for every veterinarian, as the owner of The Hometown Veterinarian, I can assure you that we never have nor ever will accept body appendages as forms of payment!
Newspaper's hit-piece
Jokes aside, The New York Times recently posted an article seeking public input on what was clearly intended to be a hit-piece regarding the fees for veterinary services and promotion of insurance. It appeared to backfire on social media as a majority of comments reflected overwhelmingly positive experiences that pet owners have with veterinarians.
This article did create a stir on many veterinary forums and did cause me to reflect upon the public perception of veterinary professionals and veterinary costs. Through the years as a veterinarian, I have personally been shouted at, sworn at, threatened, attacked online, physically shoved, and even slapped by pet owners. These sometimes violent outbursts have nearly all centered around money.
The value of quality care
Despite the rants of a few, I do continue to affirm that quality veterinary care represents the best value in health care.
It is true, the cost of just about everything has gone up. Both labor and the cost of supplies has increased for all businesses and veterinary care is no exception. I have personally seen the costs of medications and supplies increase tenfold over the past three years. Hyper-inflation, unfortunately, appears to be the current reality for everyone.
When faced with inflating costs all businesses are faced with hard choices. To keep up with those added expenses, we must either figure out a way to cut costs or we must increase the fees charged for goods and services. When it comes to my hospital, I simply will not cut corners and endanger the health of my patients just to save a buck. I won't endanger the trust people place in my practice for providing that quality standard of care they expect from us. We run a very streamlined inventory management system, negotiate pricing with suppliers and laboratories, and never spend frivously. All of this is done to meet the expectation that the majority of pet owners have for medical standard of care that is as good or better than those provided to people. It would be entirely unethical to start removing important safety measures or allow animals to be in pain simply due to costs.
As an example of the value of quality veterinary care, consider a dog spay surgery. As an abdominal surgery there are many things that go into providing a safe procedure. Most people correctly assume that lab work should always be performed prior to surgery to help ensure that there are no underlying issues which could lead to harm during anesthesia. Further, that anesthesia should be gas, just as if you or I are going under. The patient should be monitored throughout the anesthesia both electronically and by a real-live person. Surgery should always be performed in a sterile operating room using instruments that have been cleaned, wrapped, and sterilized prior to surgery. Instruments and sutures should never be shared between patients. There must be pro-active, multi-modal pain relief administered before, during, and after surgery (Yes, animals DO FEEL PAIN and veterinarians take an oath to relieve animal suffering. One should never consider pain control to be optional!). The patient should then wake up in the presence of a dedicated nursing staff until recovered from anesthesia. I can personally say that it cost over a half million dollars to build and maintain the modern surgical suites inside my veterinary hospital. When one considers all of these things, the common cost range for a dog spay of $600 to $1000 is an amazing feat to perform when considering the tens of thousands of dollars spent to perform a hysterectomy on a person.
Veterinary challenges with continued optimism
As I reflect, I can say that, with very rare exception, veterinarians make up the kindest, most caring, and generous group of people that I know. It is an absolutly heartbreaking that vast numbers of recent veterinary graduates say that they wish they had not entered the profession. Burnout amongst veterinarians is rampant. An unacceptable number of vets actually take their own lives after feeling it is all just too much to bear. Despite all of this, vets continue to be very conscious of costs while balancing affordable premium level of care with the ability to pay the bills to stay open. I, like many business owners, have personally gone without a paycheck many times all to continue providing care to the patients that I love.
People expect and pets deserve a high-quality level of veterinary care. I personally enjoy nearly everything about being a veterinarian. I have met so many wonderful people and animals through the years that I would feel empty withouth those experiences. My purpose and hope is that the general public can recognize the heart and soul which veterinarians give of themselves every day so that those entering the profession feel good about what they are doing every day. Hopefully everyone can see past shock journalism and recognize the harm that it can foster. We all understand that bills can get expensive but we appreciate our clients seeing the value of our high-quality services and trusting us with the care of their beloved animal companions.
Dr. Grant Jacobson is the owner and lead veterinarian of The Hometown Veterinarian located in Marshalltown, Iowa.
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