How much should you charge international patients for IVF?

Price is a significant determining factor for those considering IVF, but just how much should you charge?

In a complex medical tourism market, one niche that is continuing to see encouraging growth is fertility travel. The market is driven by a variety of factors in source markets including lack of access to publicly funded IVF treatment, local rules on who can and cannot access IVF treatment, availability of sperm and donor eggs, a desire to seek more effective treatment and, of course, price!
Yet even when price is a significant determining factor, clinics targeting international patients don’t have a good enough grasp of pricing in the markets that they are targeting.
Price comparisons are frequently made on some very basic and often wrong assumptions. But the reality of pricing levels in a target market can be very different.

Take the UK as an example.

The UK… a huge disparity in prices for IVF

Many countries across Europe such as Spain, Czech Republic and Turkey target the UK to attract patients seeking a low cost alternative to private IVF treatment in a UK clinic.

There is however a huge variation in the prices charged by private fertility clinics across the UK, according to research commissioned by IVF provider ABC IVF.

The price for a single cycle of IVF ranges from £2,650 to £4,195, with an average market price of £3,348, data compiled by market research firm Opinium shows.

The research examined prices at 70 UK fertility clinics. It found that the Agora Fertility Centre in Hove, East Sussex is the most expensive option for a single cycle of IVF, at £4,195. In general, prices were higher outside of London, with clinics in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Southampton and Oxford among the most expensive.

Some clinics are also charging three times more than others in drug fees, sedation, blood tests and consultations.

Consultation fees varied between £80 and £250 while sedation costs started at £100 and climbed to £350. Only a handful of the 70 fertility clinics reviewed had their fees, blood tests and sedation charges included in the ‘total package’ cost.
Patients could be paying anything from £3,855 to £7,175 for single cycle treatment and additional medical costs, the research shows.

ABC IVF, which set up its clinic on Harley Street towards the end of 2017, claims to offer the cheapest IVF treatment in the UK. Patients will pay just £1,500 for a single cycle of IVF, which is 56% cheaper than the market average. According to Geeta Nargund, ABC IVF’s co-founder, ‘We have pioneered this in an attempt to help those who are priced out of the private IVF market. In time, we believe that this treatment has the potential to end the IVF postcode lottery and significantly increase accessibility, innovation and price transparency in the IVF industry.’

So… are your IVF prices competitive?

We know that when an infertile couple are considering going for IVF abroad, it’s not just about price. Many factors come in to play – success rates (of course!), their perception of the quality of the clinic and the clinicians, whether they regard the destination as safe, the ability of the clinic staff to communicate effectively in their native language. But price is a major determinant. And the price levels at your international clinic must be competitive when compared to those available to an infertile couple in their domestic market. If a UK couple can access IVF at a cost of £1,500 for a single cycle, how does your pricing compare?

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