Your Surgery Fees Say a Lot

You’re moving from offering basic spay and neutering to establishing a comprehensive surgery center in your practice.

I’ve guided many practice owners through this change; it’s a major step.

It also means your surgery center will be your primary revenue driver.

Surgery is an investment in more space, more supplies, and potentially more staff—with the intention that profit will repay that investment over time.

That’s why your surgery fees say a lot about your practice.

The fees of surgical procedures must cover various expenses like:

• Staff salaries.

• Equipment maintenance, including the quality of the materials, drapes, gauze, gloves, etc.

• Facility costs.

• Sunk costs like the initial cost of equipment.

But, your fees need to reflect the level of expertise and specialty your practice offers.

How much time is spent on pre and post-op diagnostics? Who is preparing the patient for anesthesia or placing a catheter? How much time is spent on follow-up care and communication?

I’ve seen too many practice owners base their fees primarily on the size of the pet.

If you’re doing that, you’re selling your practice short and not making a profit.

It’s ok to start small.

To build the reputation and expertise of your surgery center before charging for it.

But you should always have a plan to increase fees.

That doesn’t mean suddenly asking clients to pay 5x more than usual for a spay and then forcing your staff to explain why to an angry pet parent.

Implementing incremental increases lessens the burden these fees can be on clients and your staff.

Use my formula for quarterly increases in my guide to setting up incremental fee increases in your practice.

Keep your surgery center profitable and clients and staff happy with small, palatable increases.

Follow my guide for incremental increases to set this up in your practice.