A recent Pop-Up Poll from Women In Optometry revealed that cost is a factor to many patients, but pricing information can be hard to find. About one-third of the respondents to the poll said that at least half of their patients ask questions about the cost of services. Yet only about 5 percent of respondents say that they include information about their charges and costs on their websites. Certainly, there’s complexity in some aspects of pricing in an optometric practice, but that doesn’t stop patients from asking.

Fewer than one-quarter of the respondents (22 percent) said that they’ll bring up pricing routinely and specifically. Another 19 percent said that they will do so if the patient asks. Fully 50 percent of the OD respondents said that they will refer the patient with questions to an appropriate staff member.

However, many patients seem to be asking questions about pricing. While 26 percent of respondents said only a relatively small number (fewer than 1 in 4 patients) have questions about costs, another 41 percent said that between one-quarter and one-half of patients ask about costs. Twenty-three percent said that between one-half and three-quarters of patients have questions; 8 percent said that more than 75 percent of patients ask about costs and two percent said all of them do.

Click here to read the full story from Women In Optometry.