Krystal warned me that she had bad veins, and I might not be able to get her blood. But she wanted me to give it a try, since the lab costs in my office were likely less expensive than if she went to the hospital and used her insurance.
True to her prediction, I couldn’t get any blood from her hidden veins. So she went to the hospital with my lab order. Six weeks later her jaw dropped when she got the bill. She had to pay $921! And the total bill to the insurance was $2200!
At Pine Creek Family Medicine in Avis, PA, our patients pay my lab costs, plus a $10 drawing fee. Through my office, if her veins had cooperated, it would have cost her $77.47. Yes, the medical system is broken!
Since Krystal was last here, we have hired a Nurse to draw blood. She’s great at finding those hiding veins, and can potentially save people lots of money.
We are now offering labs to Non-Patients at discounted prices. Krystal’s labs, if she were not one of our patients, would have cost $230. That’s just a small portion of what she had to pay through the hospital.