It is always surprising to me when I learn the costs that patients must pay for basically anything in medicine. Prior to having my independent practice, where a number of my patients are uninsured, I never had to negotiate for lower prices on labs, medications, tests or imaging. I was surprised to find out you can negotiate a lower price for almost everything.
Recently, one of my patients received a bill of $434.56 for routine annual lab work. He emailed me to request that we discuss the tests we would be ordering next time so that we could keep costs to a minimum as he does not have insurance and will need labs like this annually. The labs that I ordered were all necessary and standard, nothing exotic or unusual. I reached out the local lab representative and explained that my patient had received a bill for labs I had ordered and been charged this high price. They looked into it and switched his bill over to my account and, through the lower clinic pricing I had negotiated, he was billed $37.16; a savings of $397.40 on this one set of labs, that’s the equivalent of more than 4 months of membership!
This is one of the reasons I love having my own practice. It’s a win for my patients to save money and a win for me to see them receiving affordable, timely care and keep them healthy and happy. I have many more stories like this about how healthcare can be made more affordable for patients. Whether it’s by using wholesale medication distributors, finding or negotiating great prices for local medical services, or just by saving patients the hassle and expense of taking time off work by helping them directly over the phone, I make it a priority to help my patients get the services they need for a reasonable price. Feel free to ask me what you could be saving on your own routine meds or labs and we’ll be sure you’re getting a great deal.
Dr. Rizvi 