Why 2015 Should be a Good Financial Year for VeterinariansJanuary 22, 2015Originally published in the January 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News This year is the time to “put up hay,” according to one economist who keeps a close watch on the fiscal health of the veterinary world. Michael R. Dicks, Ph.D., director of the Veterinary Economics Division at the American Veterinary Medical Association in Schaumburg, Ill., advises practice managers to pay down debt and increase reserves in 2015. Many indications show that this year is shaping up to be a good one for most industries, including veterinary, Dicks and other financial experts say. “The U.S. economy will continue to grow this year at a rate greater than in 2014,” Dicks said. “This should increase the demand for veterinary services, and veterinarians should see an increased number of new clients or visits by old clients.” Since 2008, the U.S. economy has struggled through a slow recovery and veterinarians, like other service providers, have struggled as well. Therefore, an upbeat forecast may be welcome news for operations that have treaded water over the last six years. The bullish outlook for veterinarians is buoyed by positive indications for the nation’s overall economy in 2015. The U.S. gross domestic product is forecast to grow …
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Is Your Practice Prepared for a Natural Disaster?January 15, 2015Just before sundown on November 15, 1989, Mother Nature was making it clear that trouble was on the way as wind, rain and lightning strikes steadily intensified. The National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings for a wide swath of North Alabama, placing our practice in the center of potential tornado touchdowns. As the sole owner of the practice at the time, I suddenly realized how unprepared I was to protect the lives of my staff, the pets housed in our kennel and, heaven forbid, how to function and offer services in the days ahead if we took a direct hit. Fortunately, for us, the direct hit missed our location that night, although we did experience some minor flooding. Instead the tornado touched down in nearby Huntsville, Ala where 21 people lost their lives and $100 million of property damage occurred.1 Does Your Practice Have a Plan of Action In Case of a Natural Disaster? It’s so easy to overlook something as important as a plan of action for an event that may never happen. Most of us convince ourselves that we have a plan “in our head” about what we’d do if we were ever faced with devastation from …
How to Fall in Love with Veterinary Medicine in 2015January 8, 2015Ready to start 2015 with renewed love and enthusiasm for our wonderful profession? Here are three simple suggestions that can change your outlook and improve your daily life. 1. Create a Networking Group Pick three or four like-minded colleagues and create a small networking-group, where topics can be discussed freely. The farther apart the practices are, the more you will feel like sharing “sensitive” information. You can meet in person or virtually. You can meet monthly or quarterly, and you can stay in touch between meetings via phone or email for urgent matters. Items to discuss include: Medical topics, for example a puzzling case. Management questions, including HR, productivity and health insurance. Current articles – this could morph into a journal club, which is a fantastic way to stay on top of current literature (our secret cameras showed us your piles of unread journals…) Financial topics, such as loans, associate compensation and retirement. Philosophical questions: Should we have a mission statement? How do you find time to exercise? What is the meaning of veterinary life? 2. Visit 4 Vet Hospitals Plan on spending a day at four other hospitals this year—one per quarter. Again, in order to have a more …
How to Prepare Clients for Hospital AdmissionsJanuary 6, 2015Originally published in the December 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News Let’s say the veterinarian diagnoses my 5-year-old cat, Opus, with Grade 1 dental disease during his preventive care exam. After explaining the diagnosis and answering my questions, the doctor asks the technician to present the dental treatment plan. Here’s how to prepare clients for surgical and dental admissions. Explain service first, price last. Use the term “treatment plan,” which emphasizes needed medical care. Avoid saying “estimate,” which centers on price. Stand at the end of the exam table, forming L-shaped body language, or position yourself shoulder-to-shoulder with the client. This is collaborative body language, compared to a confrontational posture of talking across the table with a physical barrier between you and the client. Educating clients before showing prices helps them make informed decisions. Cover prices with a dental report card or preanesthetic testing brochure. Explain each item, pointing to the left column of medical services. After you’ve shared step-by-step photos and discussed medical services, reveal the price. Clients may jump to judgment if they see prices first without understanding the comprehensiveness of professional dental care. Schedule the procedure at the time of diagnosis. If you have computers in exam …
Why You Should Communicate the Value of Preventive CareDecember 10, 2014Originally published in the March 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News While visiting Navarre, Fla., to present seminars, I noticed a roadside sign at a Walgreens advertising a parking lot vaccine clinic with $10 rabies vaccinations and $25 heartworm tests. Down the street, Ace Hardware sells a seven-way dog vaccine for $6.99 with a disposable syringe. Vaccines are stored in a plastic shoebox in the Coca-Cola cooler near the register. Besides the obvious OSHA violation of storing vaccines in a refrigerator with human foods, what instructions do these customers get on vaccine administration or reactions? Pet owners have multiple choices for preventive care services and products. The Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study found an average of 15 competing veterinary care providers within a 10-mile radius, including mobile vaccine clinics, pet store clinics, private practices, specialty hospitals and shelters.1 A 2013 Communication Solutions for Veterinarians’ study found that 60 percent of dogs and 52 percent of cats received preventive care exams during a three-year period.2 Besides putting patient care at risk, the lack of regular preventive care also affects practices’ health. A dog owner typically spends $208 during a preventive care visit while a cat owner averages $186, according to the …
How to talk with Confidence about Pet NutritionDecember 3, 2014Originally published in the May 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News Did you know that a pet owner who buys diets from your veterinary hospital returns an average of eight times during the year? In addition to healthy food sales, those eight visits give you opportunities to improve compliance for professional services and products. When your client service representative rings up today’s food purchase, she should check the status of all pets in the family in your practice-management software. Let’s say your employee discovers a second dog is overdue for care. Tell the client, "Let me get Mason’s therapeutic diet for joint care. Did you know that your dog, Rocky, is overdue for preventive care? He needs a preventive care exam, vaccines, heartworm/tick screen, intestinal parasite screen and preventives. Let’s schedule an exam to get Rocky up to date. Which day of the week works best for you? Do you prefer a morning or afternoon appointment?" Once the client responds with a preference, offer two choices. Known as the two-yes-options technique, this phrasing significantly increases the chance you’ll schedule the appointment. Say, "When would you like to schedule Rocky's exam? We have an appointment at 9 a.m. Tuesday or 3 p.m. …
How to Turn Your New Clients into Lifetime ClientsNovember 24, 2014When new clients visit your veterinary hospital, what experience do you provide to ensure they’ll become lifetime clients? The average bonding rate of new clients is 60 percent. First impressions begin with phone calls and end at checkout. Here are tips to create exceptional experiences. Set up records during scheduling calls. Invest 2 minutes to enter the client record in your practice-management software. Gathering details over the phone lets you start the first visit on time rather than having 15 minutes of valuable exam time eaten up with paper work. Say, “Let’s schedule your new puppy’s exam. To speed your check-in process as a new client, we’ll get all of your information over the phone now.” Then get the client’s name, address, cell and home phone numbers and email. Request her pet’s name, birthdate, gender and breed. If phone lines are ringing and clients are lined up before you, offer to email the new client a link to your website where she can complete the form before the exam. Say, “Let me get your email and within the next 30 minutes, I’ll send you a link to our website where you can complete the new client registration online and read about …
Suicide Solution? How Silence Is Killing Us SoftlyNovember 24, 2014Originally published in the November 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News When discussing severe mental health issues, a veterinary friend of mine likes to say there’s almost no problem so grave he couldn’t outrun it. Suicide is fundamentally incomprehensible to people like him, as it is for the preponderance of humanity. Why would anyone elect a permanent solution to a temporary problem? This constitutional aversion stands to reason, of course. Self-preservation is not just a normal instinctual response but a biological imperative, too. How else do we expect to succeed as a species? Nonetheless, there’s a significant minority among us who’ve had cause to think about ending our own lives. Psychiatric diagnoses of mood, anxiety and personality disorders, among others, can occasion suicidal ideation and lead to the profound, almost physical, sensation of hopelessness typical of those who elect it. It’s common enough. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts suicide as the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., about 12 deaths in 100,000. Which is not surprising, really. We all know people kill themselves every day; every 13 minutes, to be precise. It becomes more alarming, however, when these casualties hit closer to home. Hence, …
Why You Should Put Software to Maximum UseNovember 7, 2014Originally published in the November 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News Most professionals say underutilization is the top problem for users of veterinary practice management software. Practices just aren’t using their software to its full potential. Stephen T. Pittenger, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, puts practice management software at the heart of operations where he works as chief of staff at Memorial-610 Hospital for Animals in Houston. “We utilize it as the focal point of each interaction with the client and patient,” Dr. Pittenger said. “If a service is performed or if a product is used or dispensed, the software is the first place we go to record the interaction.” That could mean invoicing, loading a photo of a lesion, ordering a radiographic study or reviewing previously scanned medical records from another practice. “We try to use the software as it was designed, to record our data in ways that allow us to easily find and review it, graph, email and print it later,” Pittenger added. Believers in the superiority of automation like Pittenger believe that many practices don’t use their practice management software to anywhere near its potential. “The vast majority of practices use practice software as a glorified cash register …
How to Get the Most Out of ConferencesNovember 5, 2014Originally published in the November 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News Whether you’re getting last-minute continuing education hours this year or choosing next year’s conferences, you need to ensure a good return on investment for the dollars you’ll spend on registration and travel. Small businesses with fewer than 500 employees, such as veterinary hospitals, spent $1,800 per employee last year on training, according to the American Society for Training and Development’s 2013 State of the Industry Report.1 Employees average 30 hours of training per year.1 In addition to meeting licensing requirements for veterinarians, technicians and certified veterinary practice managers, you want training to grow your practice’s bottom line through skill development and exposure to new business ideas. Here’s how to make the most of your next convention. Choose Which Lectures You’ll Attend In Advance Review schedules on conference websites or apps. Read descriptions of sessions on medicine, management, marketing and human resources. Ask yourself, “Which clinical skills do I need to polish or expand? Which marketing ideas could grow my clinic? What solutions could I find to human-resources challenges? What practice-management innovations could make our team more efficient?” Once you identify your learning goals, choose sessions that match your needs. At …
