Why does the case report justify charging a consultation or diagnostic fee?
Because it is a tangible thing the patient walks away holding, and people accept paying for something they can see and touch. The report does several jobs at once. It makes the recommendations understandable, it satisfies your professional obligation to document and inform, it serves as the reference tool during the presentation, and it stands as the physical deliverable behind your diagnostic fee. That last part matters. When a patient pays a consultation fee and gets nothing but a handshake, the fee feels like a toll. When they get a polished personalized report on their own situation, the fee feels like value received. You are not charging for air. You are charging for the work of listening, examining, planning, and assembling it all in one place. Produce a real document and the fee stops being a point of friction.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.