Should I be honest with patients when my treatment estimate is less accurate? Yes, and you say so out loud. Early on, before the workup, your number is much less accurate, and you need to be up front about that. Don't dress up a rough guess as a firm quote. Tell the patient this is a range, that it will tighten once you have full diagnostics, and why. People can smell a number that is too clean too early. When you admit the limits of what you know right now, you build the kind of trust that makes the real fee [...]