Why We Publish Our Prices
Evolutio Journal
The most common question we get is not about pain
It is about item codes. What that says about how people use private health now, and why we publish every fee we charge.
It is about item codes.
Not what is wrong with my shoulder. Not how long will this take. The single most common thing arriving in our inbox and at our front desk is some version of: what code do you bill under, and how much will I get back.
That has changed in the last few years, and I think it says something worth talking about.
People know what their extras are worth now
It used to be that most people had no real idea what their private health actually covered. They knew they had extras. They could not have told you their annual physiotherapy limit, what they got back on an initial consultation, or how much of it they had already used by August.
Now they can. People ring their fund before they ring us. They ask what they get back on item 500 for an initial and 505 for a follow up. They know how much of their limit is left. They have worked out that if they are paying for extras cover anyway, the money is better used than left sitting there.
That is not people being difficult. That is people being sensible with their money at a time when everyone is being more careful, and it is a good thing. It just means clinics have to be able to answer the question.
Bike fits catch people out
The same question comes to Ciclo, our bike fit studio, and it surprises people more there.
A bike fit is not a service any health fund covers. What is covered is a physiotherapy consultation, and when the fit is delivered by an AHPRA registered physiotherapist and billed as one, it goes through under the same code as any other physio appointment. Bring your card, we run it through HICAPS at the desk, you pay the gap.
A fit done by someone who is not a registered physio is not claimable, however good the fitter is. That is not a criticism of them, it is just how the funds work, and it is worth knowing before you book anywhere.
The other thing worth knowing, because it catches people out: you get one rebate per session, regardless of how long the session runs or what it costs. A three hour fit at five hundred dollars claims exactly the same rebate as a one hour one. Nobody advertises it that way.
Why we publish everything
Every price we charge is on our website. Initial and follow up, senior and standard, remedial massage, telehealth, the second opinion appointment. Alongside each one, the item code, so you can ring your fund and get a real number rather than a guess.
Two reasons.
The first is practical. People want to know what something costs within about ten seconds of landing on a page. They should not have to click three times, fill in a form, or ring up to find out. If a price is hard to find, most people assume it is hidden for a reason, and quite often they are right.
The second is that unexpected costs ruin an otherwise good appointment. Someone can have a genuinely excellent session and walk out unhappy because the bill was forty dollars more than they expected. That is entirely avoidable and it is entirely on the clinic.
We are not the cheapest
I want to be straightforward about this, because publishing prices only works if you are honest about where you sit.
We are not the cheapest physio in Melbourne and we are not the most expensive. Our appointments are longer than standard, our follow ups are thirty minutes rather than fifteen or twenty, and we see one patient at a time rather than moving between rooms. That costs more to deliver and the price reflects it.
If someone reads our fees and decides it is more than they want to spend, that is a completely reasonable conclusion and I would rather they reach it on the website than in the room. Both of us have saved an awkward conversation, and there are good clinics across Melbourne charging less.
What I do not want is for anyone to arrive not knowing.
What to ask, wherever you go
If you are booking a physio appointment anywhere, three questions will tell you what you actually pay.
- What is the fee, and what item code do you bill under? Any clinic can answer this immediately. Initials are usually 500, standard follow ups 505, longer follow ups 506.
- What does my fund pay on that code? Ring them and ask, and ask how much of your annual limit is left. Two minutes, and it is the only way to get a real number, because rebates vary enormously by fund and level of cover.
- Do you process it on the spot? Most clinics run HICAPS at the desk so you only pay the difference. If they do not, you are out of pocket for the full amount until the claim goes through.
Subtract the second number from the first. That is what it costs you.
A note to other clinics
I know publishing prices makes people nervous. The worry is that you become a price comparison, that people shop on the number alone and you lose them to whoever is cheapest.
That has not been our experience. What happens is you get fewer enquiries and better ones. The people who ring have already decided the price is fine and want to talk about their shoulder. The people for whom it was never going to work found that out without either of us spending twenty minutes on it.
If your prices only work when people do not see them until they are already in the room, the problem is not the transparency.
Our full fee list, with item codes for every appointment type, is published in full. No forms, no ringing up to find out what something costs.
Alex Drew is the founder and director of Evolutio Sports Physio in Richmond, Melbourne.
