Order Your Own Lab Work

There are so many ways you can live better for less in Panama.

When you go to a general doctor, the consultation will cost $15-$20. You won’t need an appointment, and you’ll rarely need to wait more than 5 minutes to be seen. That price is the total cost, not a co-pay. If they need to do additional procedures, there will be additional fees.

Or, if you live in Panama City, you can sign up for MiniMed for $20 a month or $220 a year for unlimited doctor visit, three specialist a year, unlimited labwork and unlimited imaging, like x-rays!

If you need to see a specialist, the cost will be about $40- $50. You will need to make an appointment, but you’ll usually be able to get in the next day. Many doctors publish their cell phone so you can send a Whatsapp to make an appointment. A few months ago, after getting Covid, I saw a lung specialists. During my 2-hour visit he did many different diagnostic tests so my total costs was $240.

Doctors in Panama put the care back into healthcare. They will spend as much time with you as necessary and they are careful to explain “why” they reached the conclusion they did. They carefully go over the details about any medications they prescribe and why.

Another way you can save money in Panama is to order your own lab work. You do not need a doctor’s prescription to order lab work in Panama.

Save even more… if you are a retiree, you can a 10% discount too!

Typically, you fast the night before you go in for lab work. Your results are usually ready the same day after 2 p.m.

If anything is not in the normal range, I take my lab work to my doctor so he can advise on how to correct the problem.

The laboratory that I go to offers special pricing once in a while. See their prices below. The prices at the top are their regular prices, and the prices at the bottom are the sale prices. There are no Pensionado discounts for lab work that is on sale.

Of course, they do many other lab tests besides what’s on the list below. I recently got my vitamin levels checked and was surprised that my B12 and iron levels were too high. By getting lab tests every six months or so, you can catch these things early and then make corrections before they become a problem.

How do these prices compare to where you live?

Here’s another lab

When you get the results, the report lists the ideal range of where you need to be and where you are. You can easily see if anything is out of the normal range.