Surgeon asking for payment in full before surgical date?

[PizzaWolf]

What's the standard for paying international surgeons?

I understand that a surgery deposit is the norm.

What if a foreign surgeon asks for payment in full, months ahead of the surgery, before even having an in-person consult?

 

[ITA]

I know that the most respectable surgeons ask in advance to "block" the date of the surgery, then, rest of the amount, the day of the procedure (usually before it starts), but that they ask for the full amount even before the visit of consultation, this, I've never heard.

Edited November 11, 2021 by Egy

[PizzaWolf]

So would it ever be reputable to have to pay a surgeon in full before the day of surgery?

 

[ITA]

@PizzaWolf Months before (so you wrote in your first post) or a day before?  Because they are two different things.

[Britanium]

 

4 hours ago, PizzaWolf said:

What's the standard for paying international surgeons?

I understand that a surgery deposit is the norm.

What if a foreign surgeon asks for payment in full, months ahead of the surgery, before even having an in-person consult?

 

Depends on the clinic, is it a well known one ? 

Edited November 11, 2021 by JC71

[Fue3361]

I paid months before a 10% deposit, and paid full a day before.

[LaserCaps]

Each clinic has its own protocol.  Typically there will be a deposit the day you schedule.  Payment in full is required prior to the procedure.  By law, I believe, no one can discuss any monetary issues once you are under the local, but it does happen.  (Particularly when more grafts are harvested than originally intended). 

I recall a few years ago a clinic would offer an additional 10% if a patient paid for 2 procedures up front.  Unique, I thought.  If the group goes out of business, if you think about it, the patient may be out of money and out of transplants.  

[Melvin- Admin]

8 hours ago, PizzaWolf said:

So would it ever be reputable to have to pay a surgeon in full before the day of surgery?

 

Yes, it's normal to pay a day before the procedure. I paid my deposit 8 months before my procedure and then the full amount a day before my procedure.

[Melvin- Admin]

6 hours ago, Egy said:

@PizzaWolf Months before (so you wrote in your first post) or a day before?  Because they are two different things.

Yes, those are two very different scenarios. Why would it even be an issue the day before the procedure? Months I can understand. 

[ITA]

31 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Yes, those are two very different scenarios. Why would it even be an issue the day before the procedure? Months I can understand. 

Indeed, the day before the procedure is the practice, but the member @PizzaWolfin his first post did not say this.

[blackislback]

Little bit confused written OP and thread's title, maybe best OP try write more clear, do you think about payment 1 day before surgery, if that's case, it's quite normal.

Practice in most of serious clinics is, pay booking fee 2-3 weeks before surger, or 2-3 months, or 5,10 whatever, as it's gurantee of your confirmation for future surgery, and even you decide don't want surgery anymore, they can cover that way some basic costs, and using that booking date, which could use some other patients instead you.

Mostly clinics ask for 10% of total, as booking fee, and then on day of surgery pay rest.

[PizzaWolf]

I was pretty confused about the payment rules of the clinic, so my post was confusing as well. Sorry. I asked for clarification from them.

They want a 1000 dollar deposit.

A second payment of around 2500 two months prior to the surgical date.

And the remainder of the full surgical cost one week prior to surgery.

[blackislback]

Thar's strange too, they ask much, if not big deal, post which clinic ask such thing, and other can tell you better about it, as 1k deposit can be, if your HT 10k $ , and strange asking 2.5k 2 months before HT, even 1 week ago, usual practice is 10% fee anytime you confirm booking with clinic and make deal with clinic when is ok, and rest at day of surgery.

[Fue3361]

Honestly, at this point, why not just say what clinic you're talking to?  If it's a well known clinic and people here confirm that it is, then you have nothing to worry about.  Probably the easier way to approach your concern is this.  

[Gatsby]

On 11/11/2021 at 6:16 PM, PizzaWolf said:

What's the standard for paying international surgeons?

I understand that a surgery deposit is the norm.

What if a foreign surgeon asks for payment in full, months ahead of the surgery, before even having an in-person consult?

 

So a surgeon asks you to pay in full months ahead of a procedure that you haven't even had a consultation with? How does the surgeon know if you are a candidate for surgery yet still wants the total cost of surgery months in advance? How does this surgeon know how to charge you in full when he doesn't even know how many grafts you will require? Who's the surgeon?

[PizzaWolf]

2 hours ago, Gatsby said:

So a surgeon asks you to pay in full months ahead of a procedure that you haven't even had a consultation with? How does the surgeon know if you are a candidate for surgery yet still wants the total cost of surgery months in advance? How does this surgeon know how to charge you in full when he doesn't even know how many grafts you will require? Who's the surgeon?

It wasn't as shifty as I made it sound from my first post.

Clearly I should have put more thought into my initial post, but I was pretty confused on the clinic's method of paying until I gathered more info.

I did have an online consult based on six photos and an initial quote based on that. When I agreed to a surgery date, they wanted:

A 1000 dollar deposit.

A second payment of around 2500 two months prior to the surgical date.

And the remainder of the full surgical cost one week prior to surgery.

 

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