OFA and PennHip .. A franchise opportunity for veterinarians with price fixing - Page 4

Wow.  The vet that did Cirberus prelims with sedation, hips and elbows $60.  For OFA certification with sedation, he quoted me $185.  To tell the truth, not sure what the difference would be, but still a better price.  You are welcome to come to Texas.  I will get you set up with him.

I just had hips, elbows, and OFA submission done last week by a board certified veterinary specialist outside of Chicago for $235.00, no sedation was used.  They use digital so they add the submission fee into their price and send it in.  A few years ago I spent nearly $800 elsewhere, had my dog sedated and had some of the worst quality x-rays I've seen.

Some states require that nobody is allowed in the room while taking an x-ray which ends up meaning that animals must be sedated for x-rays, it has nothing to do with what the vets want to do, that is the state laws regarding x-ray exposure.

I've worked as a veterinary technician for 15 years, the prices that vets charge has nothing to do with OFA or PennHip.  Most clinics base their prices on what other clinics in the area are charging, yes, they will have you call other offices from you cell phones and price shop.  Understandably PennHip might cost a bit more because the staff must be trained and certified in order to take those x-rays.  Also, be aware that many offices are not qualified to take good quality x-rays for OFA.  If all of the employees/technicians there are trainined "on-the-job" they may not have the knowledge or skills to take a good x-ray, and a vast majority of vets don't even know how to work the x-ray machine in their clinic since the technicians take all of the x-rays.

The OFA's Hip Radiograph Procedures

General Overview

Radiographs submitted to the OFA should follow the American Veterinary Medical Association recommendations for positioning. This view is accepted world wide for detection and assessment of hip joint irregularities and secondary arthritic hip joint changes. To obtain this view, the animal must be placed on its back in dorsal recumbency with the rear limbs extended and parallel to each other. The knees (stifles) are rotated internally and the pelvis is symmetric. Chemical restraint (anesthesia) to the point of relaxation is recommended. For elbows, the animal is placed on its side and the respective elbow is placed in an extreme flexed position.

The radiograph film must be permanently identified with the animal's registration number or name, date the radiograph was taken, and the veterinarian's name or hospital name. If this required information is illegible or missing, the OFA cannot accept the film for registration purposes. The owner should complete and sign the OFA application. It is important to record on the OFA application the animal's tattoo or microchip number in order for the OFA to submit results to the AKC. Sire and dam information should also be present.

Radiography of pregnant or estrus females should be avoided due to possible increased joint laxity (subluxation) from hormonal variations.OFA recommends radiographs be taken one month after weaning pups and one month before or after a heat cycle. Physical inactivity because of illness, weather, or the owner's management practices may also result in some degree of joint laxity. The OFA recommends evaluation when the dog is in good physical condition.

Chemical restraint (anesthesia) is not required by OFA but chemical restraint to the point of muscle relaxation is recommended. With chemical restraint optimum patient positioning is easier with minimal repeat radiographs (less radiation exposure) and a truer representation of the hip status is obtained.

For large and giant breed dogs, 14" x 17" film size is recommended. Small film sizes can be used for smaller breeds if the area between the sacrum and the stifles can be included.

If a copy is necessary ask your veterinarian to insert 2 films in the cassette prior to making the exposure. This will require about a 15% increase in the kVp to make an exact duplicate of the radiograph sent to OFA. Films may be returned if a $5.00 fee and request for return are both included at time of submission.

 

we can all hang together, or we will all be hung separately. who said it? Can you imagine being a private practicing vet and having a private individual breeder coming into your practice and telling you what to charge? A lobby from an informed and engaged group [ strong national club] explaining to the vet population, maybe a the school level,  will go further than this tit for tat forum. The SV has a list of vets who are ''ok'' to '' do'' their A Stamp program. 

The last OFA H/E I had done was 206. The lasy xrays I had done for a look see was 45 with my discount and I had to help cause they were busy. When I had those OFAs done they were with sedation. I would only do the sedation ones. We did DeJa last summer with none for the look see and damn she was a handful--she did not like being on her back but we managed to get a good shot and see what we wanted. And I agree with Blitzen, the OFA has nothing to do with prices and fees your vet charges you. The previous OFAs I had done with another vet were over 300...............I think about 340. So how can my vet do it so cheap and the people on the hill so much, less than 8 miles away? I don't know...............

The ones on the hill have higher mortgage payments?

There was a time when doctors owned hospitals but now the hospitals own the doctors.  Vet facilities and especially the small animal "vet hospitals" as they like to sell themselves are increasingly corporate owned and they can price fix with ease as fewer people need to meet to "price fix" or set the pricing for services or products that all charge.  Price fixing in large corporations and international corporations is a fact and they get caught but infrequently.  The fines are large when they are caught but no one goes to prison and the huge profits from pricing higher for all in the few large organizations needed to set higher pricing more than offsets the fines.  The smaller competitors generally go along and keep their mouths shut because they operate on thinner margins than the multinationals and should the worst (a price war) happen they are generally early casualties.  So the fact that in my area of central North Carolina most veterinarians charge the same price for OFA hips and elbows does not come as a surprise since it is of benefit to all of them to charge a higher price and maintain it.  Others have given examples of lower prices for the same OFA services in other areas.  Perhaps the union is not as strong in other areas as in this area of NC where we are swamped with NCSU vet school grads whom I find to be both a lot less talented and a lot less honest than the arrogant and self serving NCSU vet school system sells them to be.  Veterinarians run a business for themselves and/or for the corporation they work for and they have no more problem with overcharging you or selling you something you don't need than the attendant at the self serve gas station has with selling you cigarettes, beer, or a lottery ticket.  

price fixing!! i should call William Holder! no,no,  he has that Ben G thingy. The IRS! no they got that tea party thingy, Obama! no hes got that ACA mess. What I can do is work with my vet, help him or her  to understand why I do what I do with my GSDs and how good xrays are part of that whole breed survey thingy. He treats me right, and low and behold he gets the reward when my pups come to him for shots, and worm med, and checkups. What goes around comes around, but he does drive a better vehicle than I do, that bastard!

Try using a vet in NYC for hip xrays.