Okay, you have a monstrous unmet deductible. You also have a really annoying corn on your foot which is driving you crazy. What to do?
Hospital and outpatient surgery centers charge a facility charge for use of the operating room. In addition, there is usually a fee for anesthesia and other miscellaneous fees. These fees can be several thousands of dollars. While these costs may help pay off your deductible they are not help if you’re trying to hold down your out-of-pocket costs for an elective procedure on your toe!
One cost-effective alternative is office based Minimal Incision Surgery. Minimal incision surgery is typically done in the office under local anesthesia. We had been doing minimal incision surgery in our office for over 30 years. There are no facility charges and no anesthesia charges. Surgical fees have been negotiated with your insurance company. For toes, these are typically in the range of $300-$600. These are all-inclusive fees and include all normal postoperative care. These fees are usually only a small percentage of the cost in an outpatient surgery center or hospital.
Not all procedures can be performed safely in the office. But healthy people with simple toe problems can usually take advantage of this simple and cost-effective surgical technique.
We have been doing this type of minimal incision surgery in the office for 30 years. The technology has certainly evolved since we started doing these procedures! We now have real-time video x-ray imaging and advanced instrumentation which we only dreamed about 30 years ago. At a time of sky-high deductibles, these time-tested techniques combined with the latest technology offer an attractive and economical solution to painful foot problems!