Why You Should Embrace Fear Free Veterinary VisitsJune 9, 2015Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News I’ve been writing to and on behalf of the veterinary profession for 30 years. You may have seen my columns in magazines ranging from professional veterinary publications to Reader’s Digest and Parade, or online on sites from Vetstreet to HuffPost and DrOz.com. So why another column? I still have important topics to tackle and this magazine gives me the opportunity to focus on an area I know to be vitally important, underappreciated and not covered as much as it deserves. The area I’m referring to is “In the Middle.” I have a unique perspective and experience being in the middle between pet owners and the profession. Having been on network TV for 18 years, having written a syndicated column for about 15 years, and having communicated with tens of thousands of pet owners on radio shows, via column Q&As and at appearances, I know how pet owners’ wants and needs have evolved. I understand the difference between cost and value. Appreciate their need to feel like the bond they share with their pet needs to be celebrated, nurtured and shared. That there’s only one greatest pet in the world, …
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How to Avoid Scheduling Mistakes Every Veterinary Clinic MakesMay 15, 2015Originally published in the April 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News A client calls and explains, “My dog has diarrhea. Do you have an appointment available at 3 p.m. today?” The client care coordinator replies, “Yes, 3 p.m. is available.” Instead of asking callers, “When do you want to come in?” guide them to specific times that will have your day flowing smoothly and provide better client service. Sick pets should be seen the same day, while clients calling for preventive care exams should be seen within one week. Let’s say you have sick-pet exams scheduled today at 2 and 2:30 p.m. If you put a third sick pet at 3 p.m., chances are high that you’ll run behind and the client will experience wait time. Instead, aim for an alternating exam pattern of preventive care / sick care / preventive care. Always sandwich a sick-patient exam between two preventive care exams, which are more predictable and likely to stay on time. It’s OK to schedule preventive care exams back-to-back. When booking appointments, color code your schedule based on the reason for the visit. Strive for layers of colors. Imagine that you’re making a club sandwich, layering bread, lettuce, tomato, …
Customer Service: Hall of Shame or Hall of Fame?May 14, 2015Have you seen the latest 2014 survey on customer service? The results were reported in a recent article on the “24/7 Wall St.” website1. Here are the 10 worst companies: 10. Citigroup (15% “poor” ratings for banking and for credit cards) 9. Wells Fargo (15% “poor” for banking, 16% for credit cards) 8. AT&T (18% “poor”) 7. AOL (18% “poor”) 6. Time Warner Cable (20% “poor”) 5. DirecTV (20% “poor”) 4. Dish Network (20% “poor”) 3. Sprint (21% “poor”) 2. Comcast (25% “poor”) Who was No. 1? Bank of America (25% “poor” for banking, 22% “poor” for credit cards) No comment, besides the fact that I’m surprised that airline companies are not on that list. They have a habit of treating customers in the worst ways possible, for ever increasing prices. And here are the top 10 best companies for customer service in 2014: 10. Apple (36% "excellent") 9. Hewlett-Packard (36% "excellent") 8. Sony (37% "excellent") 7. UPS (37% "excellent") 6. Trader Joe’s (37% "excellent") 5. American Express (38% "excellent") 4. Chick-fil-A (39% "excellent") 3. Marriott International (40% "excellent") 2. Hilton Worldwide (41% "excellent") Who was rated the best? Amazon.com (58% "excellent") Here is what Micah Solomon, a customer service consultant, …
Confusing Credentials and DefinitionsMay 11, 2015Originally published in the April 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News What do the terms “chiropractor,” “nurse,” “physical therapist” and “osteopath” all have in common? Other than all these words referring to human healthcare providers, they are all considered “protected” titles by their profession, at least in the United States. What this means is that those who claim to practice techniques such as chiropractic, nursing, physical therapy and osteopathy should hold a license in that field. Nonetheless, mistakes happen. A few years ago, the president of the American Chiropractic Association told a reporter for a national news outlet “a chiropractic treatment plan may include physical therapy.” This drew an icy response from the director of public and media relations at the American Physical Therapy Association, or APTA.[i] “’Physical therapy’ is not a generic term,” he said. “It describes only those services provided by a licensed physical therapist. Chiropractors may provide some of the same treatment modalities as physical therapists, but they should portray their services as chiropractic and not as ‘physical therapy.’” Along similar lines, it would seem prudent for veterinarians and veterinary technicians who perform techniques such as therapeutic exercise, ultrasound therapy and functional restoration to …
Aquamation: A Dignified, Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Pet Cremation or BurialMay 8, 2015Originally published in the April 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News A water line and a $70,000 apparatus helped propel Jerry Shevick into the business of dissolving dead animals. The former TV executive launched his second career in 2013 when he formed Peaceful Pets Aquamation Inc., whose sales pitch to Southern California veterinary customers centers on an environmentally friendly alternative to burial or cremation of their feathered, scaled or furry patients. Aquamation is a marketing term for what is technically alkaline hydrolysis, the process by which a solution of potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide is diluted with water and slowly circulated through a stainless-steel chamber containing the remains of animals as large as a horse. Twenty hours after the button is pushed at Peaceful Pets’ Newbury Park, Calif., headquarters, a pile of soft bones is ready to be dried, pulverized into a sandlike material and packaged inside a decorative container for eventual return to the veterinary clinic and client. Alkaline hydrolysis has been used for years in research laboratories to safely dispose of tissue waste and animal subjects and, according to Luke Wilson of Bio-Response Solutions Inc., is an accepted “green” method of rapidly breaking down human remains. His Danville, …
Have You Embraced Veterinary Telemedicine?May 5, 2015Originally published in the April 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News Telemedicine is a growing field in veterinary medicine, and professionals in the industry are adding personnel and services to meet that demand. “With increased bandwidth and the increased gravitation toward the smartphone generation, we have seen a more relaxed mentality toward efficient Internet-based communication,” said Eric Lindquist, DVM, Dipl. IVUSS. Dr. Lindquist founded SonoPath.com 2007 to provide a source of sonographic pathology information to veterinarians. “This translates into an easy transition to telemedicine mentality and improved quality of service for all involved.” Dr. Lindquist said SonoPath.com has been growing rapidly in the last few years, and it’s continuing to accelerate. Advancements in technology have paved the way for that growth. The telecommunication and telemedicine processes are “less lumpy” than in the past, when slow bandwidth and limited image quality caused hitches. The technology has improved markedly over the last few years, Lindquist said. He and other experts agree that telemedicine’s growth in veterinary medicine should come as a surprise to no one, because it follows growth on the human medicine side. Growing There are roughly 2,000 human telemedicine networks and counting in the U.S., according to the American Telemedicine …
My Top 10 Regrets After 20 Years In PracticeMay 1, 2015Originally published in the April 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News This May, my 1995 colleagues and I celebrate 20 years of degree-wielding, oath-toting veterinary professional wonderfulness. We have survived. And we are all awesomer for it. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have any regrets. We all have regrets. Those who say they don’t are either inhuman or belong to the category of people who find it emotionally expedient to ignore certain words’ definitions. For my part, I relish regrets –– well, sort of. Ruminating over life’s disappointments and missed chances may not be fun, but it sure does make the future run a whole lot more smoothly –– that is, if you do it right. With that last bit in mind I offer you here a rundown of my top 10 biggest regrets. No. 1. Not undertaking an internship Sure, I made do as a trialed-by-fire newbie. But it wasn’t always pretty. Mentorship via technician (no matter how experienced) simply isn’t appropriate –– much less in an ER setting with no veterinary ground control for guidance. There’s no doubt my transition into private practice would have gone more smoothly had I either. But there’s more to this issue …
How to Cultivate a Healthy Office Culture in Your PracticeApril 27, 2015While unlocking the back door of your hospital on Friday morning, your mind is full of good thoughts. For example, like how fortunate you are to have the luxury of taking every Thursday off to focus on yourself and get recharged. Although there have certainly been times of friction among the staff in the past, that's history now, and everyone is getting along happily and enjoying their work and each other. As usual, you like to arrive a little early to review a few records, take a look at the appointments and generally begin the day a step ahead of the pack. Right away you notice the impressive number of pets seen on your off day. And there's even a "Thank You" note on your desk from a client expressing her gratitude for the great service she experienced yesterday. Then as others start to arrive in plenty of time to get prepared for the day, you sense a feeling of teamwork in action while they chatter and share funny stories from their lives and somehow manage to form a plan of action for the day. You probably would not use the term "healthy office culture," but you know that attitudes …
Are You Making These Two Mistakes and Costing Your Clinic Thousands?April 24, 2015Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News? Not a subscriber? Subscribe today! Did you know that 77 percent of pet owners would buy products that you recommend?1 Too often, veterinary teams overlook opportunities for preventive care. Here are two common mistakes, the potential income loss and how to fix them. Mistake 1: Failure to Make Overdue Reminder Calls When patients don’t get regular checkups, doctors miss opportunities to diagnose other health problems that are frequently identified during routine exams, such as dentistry, obesity, arthritis and ear infections. Potential income loss: $308,238 How to fix: On Monday mornings, managers should give receptionists a list of clients to call with pets that are overdue for preventive care. At the end of the week, receptionists will turn in completed lists. Don’t overwhelm staff with reams of people to call. Let’s say you give each receptionist 25 calls to make, and she has the workweek to complete the task. That’s only five calls per day—completely manageable! Your greatest success will be with patients that have just fallen into the third reminder cycle and are only three weeks overdue. Proper etiquette is to call clients between 8 a.m. …
Free & Fair Competition?April 17, 2015Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News? Not a subscriber? Subscribe today! I became a practice owner last October. As I’ve confessed on this back page before, I came to this decision only reluctantly, knowing as I did that practice ownership would demand a considerable lifestyle change –– temporarily, at least. Several months in I’m finally starting to feel the ground back under my feet. That’s in no small part because I made the considered decision to take on my practice manager as a business partner. After all the you-this-me-that back-and-forthing and the stressful sign-on-the-dotted line, not to mention the drain on every last bit of financial reserve I held dear, I can finally say it’s the one decision that's kept me halfway sane over the past 10 months. Indeed, her unwavering awesomeness probably explains why I did a double-take when at a recent party a colleague inquired whether I had concerns about “getting into bed” with a non-veterinarian. I could have done without the unwelcome insinuation that there’s something dirty about co-owning a practice with someone who doesn’t possess a veterinary degree. But what really impressed me was that the legality or …
