Everything at the clinic I go to is digital. The *****y x-ray technician takes the x-ray and digitally sends it to the doctor via the computer system. How much does it cost the clinic for the technician to press "print" on the computer and have an actual x-ray printed out and then hand it to me. Timewise, it took her 1 click of the mouse to print it, and then probably another 30 seconds for the receptionist to grab it from the printer, put it in a envelope and hand it to me. What is their cost for the 10" x 12" piece of film or negative (?) that the x-ray was printed on? Here's the whole story... My son hurt his shoulder at school. His teacher asked for a copy (as in photocopy on paper) of the x-ray to show the class. I asked the tech for paper copy of the x-ray and she copped an attitude as if I had no business looking at it. She finally agreed. We waited 15-20 minutes for it and the receptionist handed us an actual x-ray. (When they send me a bill for that I'm going to suggest they write it off as a donation to a local school.) We get back to the doctor and he didn't know how to bring up the image on the computer in the examination room so if I didn't have a copy I wouldn't have been able to see the injury. Arrogant bastards! Insurance has absolutely ruined them! For clarity, I'm not wondering about the x-ray procedure itself. That was necessary. It's not in dispute. I'm only asking about the hard copy they gave me.
And in this truth lies the crust of the bisquit. Couple in the liability involved (An Xray can do SERIOUS damage if proper precausions aren't taken and viola...big money.
I wouldn't dispute any of that, but isn't it all irrelevant? The liability and the cost of the machine is calculated into the cost of taking the x-ray and "emailing" it to the doctor. There's not a lot of liability in clicking on "print", putting the print into an envelope, and handing it to me.
True, but the X-ray machine itself probably set them back $80,000 and it is outdated in three months. Figure they do twenty X-rays a day, five times a week, and over those three months they've taken approximately 1200 pictures. They'd have to charge $87 a pic just to break even (say $67 for the equipment+ $10 for the tech + $10 for the utilities/building) if it was cash money, but then you have the insurance companies paying only certain percentages which drives the cost up even more. In essense, that is why you pay $125-$175 for a ten cent picture.
