It’s an old saying, but it’s true. Time is money, especially in an operating room. When you pay for many cosmetic procedures that are done in an operating room setting, there will be a “facility fee” charge. So what are you paying for?
People
Consider not just the operating room but everyone that you contact during your time at a surgery center or hospital:
- The persons the check you in at the front desk
- The nurses get you settled in the Pre-op area, start your IV, give you medications, etc.
- The OR personnel- a scrub nurse and 1 or 2 circulating nurses
- The nurses in the post-op area, who care for you from the time you leave the OR until you leave the facility
- The techs that clean, organize, and sterilize the instruments after your case
- The business office staff that keep track of all this
All of these people are trained professionals, held to very high standards, and in high demand. Keeping them employed means paying a good salary, which they deserve.
Equipment
Operating rooms are expensive! They’re the things you can see (OR tables, anesthesia machines, OR lights, etc.) and even more that you can’t (special ventilation systems, special flooring, medical gas lines, fire suppression, electrical, and more). How much does an OR cost to build? The latest estimates to build an OR facility use a figure of $1.4 million per operating room.
When you’re in the operating room as a patient you are essentially “renting” the use of this expensive space.
Supplies, Medications
When you’re in a facility a lot of supplies are used. Some are cheap, like bandaids, but others can be surprisingly pricey. The band-aids, medications, sutures, surgical drapes and gowns, and others all add up.
Our cosmetic patients don’t see the individual prices of all these items as they are all bundled into the facility fee. These overall fees are based on the time spent in the OR- bigger procedures take longer and therefore use more supplies, equipment, and staff time. We do our best to keep these prices as low as we can but still provide the highest quality of care available. We just think it’s important for patients to understand these costs!
