Location Type
👍🏻
{{Please note that if the teeth cleaning and consultation with the vet exceed one hour, even a minute's extra anesthesia time will be charged as a full hour!}} I brought my 10-year-old dog (OO) to the vet for a teeth cleaning. During the first pre-treatment blood test, the vet's assistant was very polite, attentive, and patient. Today was the actual teeth cleaning. When I arrived at the vet around 12:30, the receptionist explained that the vet was still caring for a hospitalized dog, so OO would need to wait in its crate. Since OO doesn't like being in a crate and I didn't want to keep it waiting too long, I called the vet at 1:01 PM to confirm if the teeth cleaning had started. The receptionist replied that anesthesia had begun and asked me to return in 30 minutes or wait for the vet to call and discuss the treatment plan. I returned to the hospital around 1:40 PM. The vet informed me that the cleaning would take another 5 minutes. I finally went to the consultation room around 1:50 PM to discuss the treatment. Because OO's teeth were in more serious condition, the process took a little longer. While I was still hesitating about discussing with my family whether further treatment was necessary, the vet advised against keeping the dog under anesthesia just to wait for my communication without any medical procedures being performed. He suggested I stop the anesthesia, which I agreed to. The actual anesthesia time was 64 minutes, but the hospital staff insisted on charging an extra 2000 NTD for an hour of anesthesia for just 4 minutes! I found this completely unacceptable. I respect the hospital's pricing method and agree with the user-pays principle. I also support that professional and dedicated medical personnel should receive reasonable compensation. However, the hospital's communication process had procedural flaws, and the charges were not clearly stated in the contract. I suggest the following improvements: 1) The hospital never informed me of the "start of anesthesia" time (i.e., the start and end times of the procedure could not be confirmed). How was I supposed to know what time the teeth cleaning procedure would take, plus the time spent communicating with the vet? If they knew it might take longer to clean my teeth, they could have informed me beforehand, but I always had to ask proactively. Then, when I decided to turn off the anesthesia, they told me that because the anesthesia time was 64 minutes, which was 4 minutes longer than an hour, I would be charged for 2 hours! 2) Please see the photos below: the first is the pre-operative contract, and the second is the bill (the 5000 NTD was my pre-operative deposit). The first pre-operative contract did not state that "anesthesia fee is calculated as 1 hour for every minute of overtime," it only stated that "the fee is 2000 NTD for every additional hour." However, I was charged an extra 2000 NTD for 4 minutes longer!! I have already reported this to Dr. Huang, but I still find the hospital's practice unacceptable. I hope that if this is the standard for charging, it will be clearly stated before and during the procedure, instead of vaguely stating "the anesthesia is still ongoing" while my dog was still under anesthesia and we were discussing the treatment. The doctor's attitude is suspicious.
Dr. Liu is a very patient and caring doctor. I feel very reassured leaving Dudu in his care.
I come back regularly for dental cleanings. Everyone on the team is very friendly. My dog is still a bit nervous, but more relaxed than at other hospitals! There's a park right across from the hospital, so we can go for a walk while we wait. 🐕
Ok