Ask a practice why prices are not on the website and the reasons are consistent: HMO cover changes what each patient pays, cases vary, and competitors would see them.
All three are real. None of them justify publishing nothing, which is the usual conclusion.
What silence actually does
A patient comparing options finds a practice with an indicative price and one with none. Some will call to ask. Many will assume the unpriced practice is the expensive one and stop there.
You never learn about those. There is no enquiry, no phone call, no data. The cost of silence is entirely invisible, which is why it persists.
What you can publish safely
A starting figure. "Consultations from NGN X" commits you to nothing beyond your simplest case and answers the question well enough for someone to decide whether you are in their range.
A range. For procedures where the variation is genuine, a range plus an explanation of what moves it within that range is both honest and useful.
Fixed prices for fixed things. Many services genuinely have one price: a standard test, a vaccination, a routine screen. These can be published outright, and doing so builds credibility for the ranges elsewhere.
What is included. Frequently more valuable than the number itself. Whether the consultation covers a follow-up, whether the fee includes the report, whether a review is charged again.
Explain the HMO position clearly
This is the part patients find most confusing and the part practices explain worst. State which schemes you accept, that what an individual pays depends on their plan and cover, and that the front desk will confirm before anything is done.
That is honest, accurate, and stops the published figure being read as a promise to an insured patient.
Say when you cannot say
For genuinely variable work, explaining why is better than silence. "The cost depends on how many sessions are needed, which we can only judge after the first assessment. That assessment costs X." A patient can act on that.
Do not hide it
Pricing buried three clicks deep, or available only by filling in a form, reads as evasive. Put it on the relevant service page where the question naturally arises.
Keep it current
An out-of-date price is worse than no price, because a patient arriving expecting the published figure and being charged more has a legitimate grievance. Date the page, review it when fees change, and add a short line noting that prices are reviewed periodically.
The practices that do this well are not the cheapest. They are the ones patients trust not to surprise them, which is a different and more durable advantage.