Ingrown Toenail removal for $170.

[cool_vkb]

My cousin had an ingrown toenail in his thumb. Iam not in pod school so pardon my medical terminology. Basically what happened is, he had an ingrown toenail which had bcom like so big and was going on increasing and penetrating skin. But he never felt pain. the only thing was it was looking very ugly. Today in morning he was trying to cut the nail by himself. and it just got wrong and he injured the finger and the nail was kind of crushed. You guys are students so i guess you know what i mean to say. Anyways, in my infinite wisdom i advised my uncle to take him to a Podiatrist.

He doenst have insurance. So we said we are going to pay cash.Its unbelievable. The pod charged $20 for consulation, $140 for removal of that nail and bandaging ,etc and again $18 for some tube/oinment he gave to apply after the wound heals. and he also said to visit again after 3days. Damn! thats too much. Had we taken him to our Family Doctor (Family practioner) he would have charged a $40 and it would have been over.

Is this normal, or you think we have been charged a lot.

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[FootFetish]

$40 sounds really, really cheap. Are you good friends with the family doctor or something? How long did the procedure take, and what kind of removal did they do? We call the 'thumb' a hallux, FYI.

 

[cool_vkb]

$40 sounds really, really cheap. Are you good friends with the family doctor or something? How long did the procedure take, and what kind of removal did they do? We call the 'thumb' a hallux, FYI.

No man! in Chicago, if you dont have insurance and you go to a Physcian. He doesnt charges you the regular consultation fees bcoz naturally if the guy cant even afford insurance what he will pay $200 as consulation. So they charge like $30-80 depening on the Physician. but in Suburbs i know for sure, some indian MDs charge non-insured people like $30 or $40.

And yeah, he is kind of close to us .bcoz nearly a quarter of my family doenst have insurance so they all go to him. they all have private businesses and dont want to spend money on insurance.

But anyways, my cousin's nail was crushed. like he had crack on it and blood was oozing out of it and we cant remove that from nail cutter bcoz it was sunken in skin. it took like 15-20 min maximum for cleaning the wound, removing the nail,etc. i didnt saw it myself what he did. So i cant say what procedure it was.

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

Removal of a nail is a surgical coding. It is not a simple $40 procedure. The only thing that I can think of is the FP would have charged $40 for the office visit and just given him antibiotics.

I think he got a deal. Everything you quoted is fairly low including the office visit for a first time expnaded visit.

 

[cool_vkb]

Removal of a nail is a surgical coding. It is not a simple $40 procedure. The only thing that I can think of is the FP would have charged $40 for the office visit and just given him antibiotics.

I think he got a deal. Everything you quoted is fairly low including the office visit for a first time expnaded visit.

But what is the average fees a Pod would charge. What if i would have brought my cousin to the Great Dr.Feelgood in Des Moines once he starts practicing. How much would he have charged. Considering the fact that the poor guy is uninsured.

 

[birdieDPM]

He got a bargin.

 

[cool_vkb]

He got a bargin.

Who got the bargain?

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

But what is the average fees a Pod would charge. What if i would have brought my cousin to the Great Dr.Feelgood in Des Moines once he starts practicing. How much would he have charged. Considering the fact that the poor guy is uninsured.

I have no idea. We don't learn billing; we learn how to get the nail out, why it needs to come out, what happens when things go wrong, when to prescribe antibiotics, what antibiotics to prescribe, why do you flush the area, can you use chemical to do a matrixectomy, what anesthetics to use, what happens when you give the anesthetic, how is it broken down, what are signs of an allergic reaction, ect.

I just have not learned what I charge. That is why you hirer a biller.

 

[cool_vkb]

I have no idea. We don't learn billing; we learn how to get the nail out, why it needs to come out, what happens when things go wrong, when to prescribe antibiotics, what antibiotics to prescribe, why do you flush the area, can you use chemical to do a matrixectomy, what anesthetics to use, what happens when you give the anesthetic, how is it broken down, what are signs of an allergic reaction, ect.

I just have not learned what I charge. That is why you hirer a biller.

Wow that was the best sentence making using "why" & "When" & "What" words i ever saw

 

[krabmas]

at the general practitioner a yearly physical without insurance may be billed at $300.

Typically docs that accept insurance gouge those without to make ends meet or subsidize the fact that they take insurance.

The $170 price tag seems fair to me. The follow-up visit in 3 days however should not be charged unless there are complications to deal with. Most insurances have a 10 day global period for a nail avulsion which means the visits in the 10 days after the procedure are not re-imbursed.

For the procedure the doc needed to use sterilized instruments, spend his time, anesthetize the area, bandage the toe, and give all kinds of post-op instructions for care. (soaking the toe...)

 

[bdaddyjolley]

I've heard of podiatrist charging 375 for ingrown toe nails.

 

[FootFetish]

i heard $3000

 

[cool_vkb]

Oh then i think Mr.Cool_VKb got a fair deal. I was thinking we have been charged too much. Now it looks like it was ok. may be it was that feeling of giving all cash. That made me and my uncle pretty upset. Usually if you have insurance then you just pay the $20 co-pay and you are done.

Dont know man, we indians are very happy in getting money from others but when we have to give, we get all red and blue and start making excuses.D . It was looking as if my uncle was a removing his part of body and giving when he was asked to give the cash he was so hesitant.

 

[MrFeeties]

I had a podiatrist remove an ingrown toenail last year (toe blocks aren't that comfortable!) and it was about $300. Cut your nails straight and don't wear hockey skates that bind your feet!

 

[SportPOD]

Ok, this is for all you billing newbies! Here in AZ, a new patient visit would earn you about $100 and then removing the nail would get you another $90. If you permanently remove the nail (phenol procedure) it will earn you about $150 (on top of the new patient visit). If you think these are low rates, think about the fact that it takes about 5 minutes to do a ingrown nail removal and about another 2 more minutes to do a phenol. So if you're seeing one patient every 15 minutes you could potentially be making $800 or more in an hour, if all of those visits are ingrown toenails.

 

[cool_vkb]

So if you're seeing one patient every 15 minutes you could potentially be making $800 or more in an hour, if all of those visits are ingrown toenails.

But do we really get daily so many patients who need ingrown nail removal daily. . or its just one or two occasionally.

Its really nice we have Practicing Pods also on this forum. God bless you Bhai!

 

[bigdig712]

Ok, this is for all you billing newbies! Here in AZ, a new patient visit would earn you about $100 and then removing the nail would get you another $90. If you permanently remove the nail (phenol procedure) it will earn you about $150 (on top of the new patient visit). If you think these are low rates, think about the fact that it takes about 5 minutes to do a ingrown nail removal and about another 2 more minutes to do a phenol. So if you're seeing one patient every 15 minutes you could potentially be making $800 or more in an hour, if all of those visits are ingrown toenails.

haha, thats if the insurance companies actually want to cough up the money.

And $170 for an ingrown/minor surgical procedure (don't know if it was permanent) is a pretty good deal, considering the pain and infection that wouldv'e occured if nothing had been done.