Is it worth charging a small diagnostic fee just to break even?
Usually not, and the math fools people. A low diagnostic fee feels responsible, like you are at least covering your time. But run it through front end and back end thinking. That small fee rarely covers your true cost anyway, so you do not actually break even, and meanwhile it raises the barrier just enough to scare off patients who needed an easy first step. You lose people at the front to recoup pennies, then you have fewer cases at the back where the real money lives. Why charge a fee that neither pays for itself nor helps you, while it actively thins your pipeline? In most cases you are better off stimulating the most response, getting the patient in to meet you, and earning the fees later. Do not be penny wise and case foolish.
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.