About Your Visit: Large Animal Services

A member of your Patient Care Team will call you with a patient status update. These calls are made at the least-busy times of the day, which in many cases will be after 5:00 p.m. For surgical cases, you will be called after your animal has recovered from anesthesia. In many cases, your surgical Patient Care Team will be in surgery throughout the day, so please anticipate a status call later in the day.

Patient inquiry procedures and considerations

• Inquiries reqarding your hospitalized animal can be made by calling 540-231-4621. The ideal time to call is between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Most Patient Care Team members are in clinical rounds in the morning and late afternoon and are unavailable except for emergency phone calls. 
• Depending on caseload and scheduling, your Patient Care Team may be unavailable for patient status inquiries for periods throughout the day.

All visitation arrangements must be prearranged with a member of your Patient Care Team. We understand and value the bond you have with your animal, but the stress and excitement caused by visitation may be counterproductive to sound case management, particularly in cases of ophthalmic surgery, general surgery, and critical care medical cases. Your Patient Care Team will work with you to maximize your contact with your animal, relative to its best health care interests.

• Discharge times and dates should be arranged directly with your Patient Care Team.
• Because many discharges require detailed after-care instructions and clients may have a number of questions, proper scheduling of discharges is essential. 
• Please inform your Patient Care Team if you will be running late or need to reschedule your animal's pickup. 
• If you have post-discharge questions or concerns, please call 540-231-4621.
• Your referring veterinarian will receive a copy of your discharge instructions, typically by fax.

All large animal outpatient services are to be paid in full upon discharge of the patient.

• Before services are rendered, clients will receive an "Estimate of Fees" for large animal services requiring an overnight stay.
  
• All large animal inpatient services require a prepayment or deposit totaling 75% of the "Estimate of Fees." The remaining balance is due upon the patient's discharge.
• As of September 3, 2024 the VTH will no longer be charging finance charges. 

Field service clients will be billed on a monthly basis for services. Any outstanding balance remaining on account after the initial due date will accrue finance charges at the rate of 0.75% per month, or 9% annually. A 10% late penalty will be assessed on all account balances 30 days past due.

Please be aware that the Business Office may not know all the charges for which you will be responsible at the time of patient discharge. As a result, you may be billed by mail for supplemental charges after patient discharge.

• In-person: Cash, personal check, money orders, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover
  
• CareCredit
• Online payments: eCheck, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
• By phone: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover
  

Refund requests will be reviewed and determined on a case-by-case basis.

Please call our Large Animal Hospital Business Office at 540-231-9043 if you have questions.