In-house Blood Work Can Be A Revenue Stream For Veterinary PracticesOctober 15, 2012 In-house blood work can boost veterinary clinic profits but only if practitioners treat it as a major capital investment and do their homework, say veterinary clinical pathologists. “Many people only look at the cost of the instrument, but there is so much more to understand,” said Craig Tockman, DVM, director of Abaxis North American Animal Health of Union City, Calif. “We must look at the cost and value of time. Veterinarians must look at the value of investment in capital equipment as part of the value of their business and what they provide their patients. The cost of running a test at the point of care is actually less expensive for the practice, and provides the ability to actually grow the business.” Kendal Harr, DVM, MS, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, is owner and clinical pathologist of Mukilteo, Wash.-based URIKA LLC, a private pathology consortium of boarded consultants. A member of the Abaxis Scientific Advisory Board, she has written extensively about issues surrounding her field, particularly the assurance of quality, accurate test results. “Especially in the more normal patients, in-house complete blood count and biochemical analyzers can improve turnaround time and diagnostic …
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Getting Sick On A Tropical Island = Rip OffOctober 15, 2012 During a recent tropical vacation, one young member of our group became acutely ill the night of our arrival. Hallucinations, ADR and high temperature (Note to self: Bring a digital thermometer along next time – it weighs less than a couple of ounces). Please note that Veterinary Practice News is rated PG 13, so rest assured that no drugs or alcohol were involved in this story. The next morning, we headed to the local physician. After a cursory exam and a $100 tab, he decided that to be on the safe side, we should see a pediatrician. We asked how much it might cost, but he claimed to have no idea. Since nobody could in good conscience take a chance with some strange exotic disease, some well-known current local microbe or something like meningitis, we decided to follow his advice. We hopped into a cab to the local hospital, with which the local doctor was affiliated. It looked like several Americans were in the same sad situation during their vacation. Among them, a few stood out in the waiting room. One lady, who had had a knee replacement, slipped on a wet floor, fell, and apparently …
When Sally Met Her BankerOctober 10, 2012 Sally’s life just changed quite radically. She had moved to a new town and got a new job at a wonderful vet clinic. She walked into Hometown Bank, where she wanted to open a checking account to deposit her future paychecks. The smiling bank teller proudly informed her that she was in luck: Hometown Bank now offers free checking. “What do you mean, free checking? Everything is free? Where’s the catch?” asks Sally. She’s no dummy; she works in the veterinary profession after all. She knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch. She also had just read in a journal quoting Bankrate.com that only 45 percent of banks offer fee-free, noninterest-bearing checking accounts. That’s down from about 75 percent in 2005! The teller answered with a big smile: “Free checking means free checking. Everything is free! No minimum opening deposit, free deposits, free debit card, free withdrawals, free ATM cards, no minimum balance, free online banking, free online “Bill Pay,” free monthly online statements, free balance alerts, I’m telling you Sally, everything is free.” “What is the interest rate on this account?” wondered Sally. The teller answered with a big smile: “Oh, you …
How To Integrate Hydrotherapy Into A Veterinary PracticeOctober 9, 2012 Find out how you can integrate an underwater treadmill into your veterinary practice and the key essentials you should consider in choosing the system that is ideal for you. Treatments One of the first things to consider is how to use the underwater treadmill in your facility. The most common reason is for post-operative rehabilitation due to orthopedic or neurologic issues, such as cranial cruciate ligament tears or intervertebral disc disease. The water can be raised to a certain height, which minimizes the weight of the patient, allowing him/her to exercise in a controlled environment. The underwater treadmill also allows pets with degenerative diseases, such as hip dysplasia or degenerative myelopathy, to walk with stability and confidence from the support of the water. Another way the treadmill can be incorporated into your practice is by implementing conditioning and weight loss programs. Extra resistance can provide an additional challenge for the canine athlete, while overweight patients can comfortably work out to improve their cardiovascular fitness and shed pounds. Fitting In Understanding the amount of floor space required by an underwater treadmill is very important in the planning …
'Needy' Staff?October 2, 2012 Bridging generation gaps in the workplace is never easy. But like it or not, practice owners and managers are tasked with adapting to the style and needs of the new generation of veterinarians and support staff. One of the most prevalent attributes of the latest generations entering the workforce—and the one causing great lament among supervisors who were brought up under a different regime—is the expectation of continual praise and encouragement. Many young people entering the workforce today count themselves among what the mainstream media has dubbed the “over-praised” Me Generation. They also include the Millennial generation and Generation Y. “Today’s employees require more hand-holding and recognition,” says Alyce D’Amato, CVT, CVPM, vice president and executive director of Horizon Veterinary Services Inc. in Appleton, Wis. “Unfortunately, they want to be rewarded for simply being at work and fulfilling their job duties. I see fewer employees who understand what it means to go above and beyond. We certainly have young employees who work very hard—they are just difficult to find. Today’s young employees seem to think that working between 38 and 42 hours in a week is extreme.” Such attitudes may have significant implications for …
Hiring And Firing To Get The Vet Staff You WantOctober 2, 2012Recruiting and retaining dedicated, competent employees and knowing how to let go of employees who are not the best fit for your veterinary practice are significant management challenges. Practices that develop an effective hiring and termination process are more likely to hire outstanding team members and retain employees who are the right fit for the practice culture. Take the following steps to improve recruitment efforts: What You Need When recruiting employees, don’t just look for a warm body to fill the position. Instead, focus on finding job candidates who have the skills and attitude to become an outstanding member of your team. To recruit the right candidates, define the requisite skill set for the position and what kind of employee you need to adhere to the core values of your veterinary practice. In addition, focus on what potential employees want from employers. Make sure the wages and benefits you offer are competitive for your region and with other area practices. Understand that while compensation and benefits are important, these are often not the only deciding factors when people choose a job. Employees want to work in a positive environment. They value flexible work schedules, training and development opportunities, supportive …
Compounding Pharmacists Think Big To Meet Vet Clients' Specialized NeedsSeptember 27, 2012 When compounding pharmacists say that they provide targeted solutions, it seems that they really mean it. After all, if your 5,000-pound rhinoceros balks at taking his antibiotics, who else are you going to call? The Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, N.M., called Michael Blaire, R.Ph., co-owner of Diamondback Drugs, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based national veterinary pharmacy with an emphasis in compounding. One of the zoo’s rhinos had an infection, and 150 ground-up antibiotic tablets were making his food extremely bitter. “We needed something sweet and chewable,” Blaire said. The answer? A Rice Krispies treat the size of a car hood. It took two technicians 21/2 hours and two dozen boxes of cereal to prepare the prescription and cut it up into 21 doses. “But 21 days later, we had a cured rhino,” Blaire said. Not all compounding solutions have quite so much snap, crackle or pop. But the case of the sweet-toothed rhino does illustrate both the depth of the problems compounders sometimes face and the creativity they can bring to their work. On the horns of a dilemma, a specialized response can mean the difference between wasted effort and welcome relief. The …
Treat Your Clients Like FriendsSeptember 24, 2012Well, you’ve probably figured out that now I’m on the “other” side of the exam table, as a pet owner rather than as a technician, and it’s been quite an eye-opening experience. Here’s the latest. I took one of my cats in to update her vaccinations (yes, she was overdue), and just happened to see the technician who saw Minnie the one other time she’d been to this vet, back in 2008 for an aspirate of a lump in her “belly waddle” (you know, that thing that hangs down from every cat’s belly, and waddles when they walk). I remembered her, but she didn’t give me any indication of knowing me … and I know that a quick glance at her chart would have clued her in that we had met before. I don’t why it bothered me so much. I guess because I know it can be done SO much better, and I just don’t think it’s very hard to give a client the best experience ever. It’s simple, in fact, you just have to become aware and put a little bit of thought into it. Here are some quick tips for making your client feel like your …
What It Takes To Be An Effective LeaderSeptember 24, 2012 A leader can both use and exploit different forms of power to assist herself in her position, but many of these forms can have some pretty problematic side effects. For example, while the power of position, the power to give rewards, the power to punish and the power to control information may have some strength in limited situations, they ultimately place the people being led in an unhealthy position of weakness. Leaders who use coerciveness and threats to accomplish their objectives are seen as autocratic and out of touch, and rarely succeed in exerting any positive influence over their organization or people. Societies have changed tremendously over the last 50 years, and today individuals are encouraged to create their own power and take responsibility for their own decisions. Few of us enjoy having power exerted over us and will do what we can to undermine those who try to use these powers on us. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscle; but today it means getting along with people.” The Art of Power Today’s effective leaders have found a tremendous amount of power in knowledge, and that pursuing the …
Quality Control Counts With In-clinic Veterinary Labs, Heska And Abaxis SaySeptember 24, 2012 All blood analysis equipment has a propensity for certain errors. It’s just that reference laboratories are usually better at catching them, said Leslie Sharkey, DVM, Ph.D., diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathology and president of the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathologists. “Quality assurance programs in reference labs usually include running high, low and normal control materials purchased from the manufacturer of the analyzer or another commercial source at regular intervals, often about once a day,” she said. “We graph the data over time to make sure that we are getting the expected results and to look for trends that might indicate the analyzer is developing a problem. “In addition, many reference labs participate in external quality assurance programs in which labs are sent ‘unknowns,’ which we test and then return the results to the program,” Sharkey continued. “The program lets us know how our results compare with other participating laboratories so we can gauge our performance.” Kendal Harr, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVP, owner of a private pathology consulting firm, said quality control programs for in-clinic blood analysis equipment would frequently be considered substandard to measures taken by reference labs. A recent survey she …
