Reporting, billing, invoicing
a. Each client is assigned a unique “AHL client number” upon first submission.
b. Our routine practice is to bill Vet-clients only. When Owner-clients make a submission (postmortem cases only, with the veterinarian’s permission), we require partial payment in advance (debit or credit card).
WE CANNOT CHANGE THE CLIENT ON A CASE AFTER IT HAS BEEN INVOICED.
c. Invoices are sent out only upon completion of the full report. Cumulative monthly statements are mailed, emailed or faxed from the University of Guelph. Payment is due within 30 d of the invoice date.
Please make all cheques payable to the “University of Guelph”, and remit to Laboratory Services Division, University of Guelph, P.O. Box 3650, 95 Stone Road West, Guelph, Ontario N1H 8J7 - Attn: Accounts Receivable.
Please note that VISA and MasterCard are accepted for payment. Please call 519 823-1268 ext 57416 with your credit card information. If paying in person, you may use your debit card or credit card at Specimen Reception at the AHL-Guelph & Kemptville, or 95 Stone Road locations.
In addition, online banking is available by accessing our account “UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH – Laboratory Services” and scrolling to Lab Ser Div. Please note that all on-line payments must include a client number (the client number is the customer number/account number).
d. Our credit card payment processing program allows clients to pay via credit card on a one-time only or a monthly basis. If you do not have a form – please call us at 519 824-4120 ext 54320 or 54976, fax us at 519 821-8072, or visit our webpage at https://www.uoguelph.ca/ahl for full details.
e. For internal (University of Guelph) cases, do not pay the invoiced amount. Provide full coding information, and a journal entry will be completed by the AHL at the end of each month.
f. University of Guelph, Laboratory Services Division’s liability is limited to the quoted individual sample price.
g. Fees are subject to change without notice. Quotation prices include testing of the submitted samples (number and type) listed and a written report of those testing results. Any changes in the samples as identified in a quotation or any additional service requests must be agreed upon in advance and/or may result in additional costs.
h. Fees for submissions from out-of-province vary. Please refer to our guide or website for out-of-province fees.
i. Testing fees for U of G researchers are list price, unless otherwise arranged in advance with the lab.
j. Fees for "stat" testing (testing that interrupts ongoing testing) are 150% of the listed fee. Stat tests requiring additional technical time after hours will be billed at an additional $95.00/hr. Note: Stat testing is only available where possible and resources are available – please contact lab. Staff overtime charges incurred due to the processing or testing of time-sensitive samples arriving late in the day will be billed to the client.
k. There is a case cancellation fee of $15.00 for data input and handling. Full charges apply if testing has already started. Note: For bacteriology cases cancelled 24 h after received, the bacti set-up charge of $25 will be applied.
l. Postmortem case fees:
i. If a postmortem is conducted out-of-hours (animals received after 15:00 h Monday to Friday or on holidays and weekends), there will be an out-of-hours charge of $310.00/h (to be authorized by client) in addition to the basic charge. An out-of-hours postmortem is performed at the discretion of the pathologist.
ii. The fee for insurance and legal postmortem cases is $345.00 for documentation, photos, extra time spent in examination, consultation, etc. Additional time over 1 h is billed at $350.00/h.
iii. A fee for euthanasia may apply to live animal submissions. Please refer to the postmortem section of the Fee Schedule for details.
iv. A fee is charged for the disposal of carcasses following postmortem of calves, pigs, foals, sheep, goats, horses and cows (and commercial poultry at AHL-Kemptville). Please refer to the Disposal section of the Fee Schedule for details.
v. The AHL does NOT perform cosmetic autopsies. Due to biosafety concerns, remains cannot be returned. We recommend private cremation. Private cremation must be requested at the time of submission. It is the responsibility of the client to arrange private cremation. The remains will be released once all testing is finished and the pathologist has finalized the case. Remains for private cremation do not include samples taken from the body for current or future laboratory tests.
AHL will hold the body after completion of the postmortem until the client can make arrangements with a private cremation service. We require that a licensed cremation service pick up the remains.
Note: A fee of $55.00 applies for handling, storage and return of remains for private cremation (released for pick-up ~ 1 wk after closure of the case). “Waiver of Liability Release of Specimens from the Animal Health Laboratory” AHL-11-FRM will be required to be signed by the private cremation company at pickup. If remains are not picked up within 1 month after being released, they will be forwarded for communal cremation.
m. Transportation charge for forwarding specimens to external laboratories:
i. within Ontario - $15.00/shipment plus $25.00 accessioning fee (external sample handling fee).
ii. to other provinces - $45.00/shipment plus $25.00 accessioning fee (external sample handling fee).
iii. referral laboratories in the USA - $75.00/shipment plus $25.00 accessioning fee (external sample handling fee).
iv. to Europe - $200.00/shipment plus $25.00 accession and external sample handling fee.
v. many external laboratories add accession fees to their submissions, this may or may not appear separately on your invoice.
n. The fee for transfer of bacterial isolates, on request of clients, for serotyping or autogenous vaccine preparation is $27.50. This request should be made within 3 d of the date the results were reported. Please e-mail ahlbact@uoguelph.ca to request transfer of isolates. The fee for preparing and transfer of mycoplasma or fish bacterial isolates, on request of clients for autogenous vaccine preparation is $43.00.
Additional charges will apply for completion of Material Transfer Agreements, where applicable.
o. Fees for transfer of viruses on request of clients are available on request. Please email ahl.virology@uoguelph.ca for more information.
p. For a quotation for retrieval of on-line and archived AHL data please call Dr. Tanya Rossi at 519 824-4120 ext 53364 to request.
q. Follow-up cases are tested at "no charge" only on the specific request of an AHL veterinarian.