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, …
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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, …
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 …
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. …
How You Can Build Client Relationships with Social MediaApril 10, 2015Social media. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or any of the many social media platforms, people (including your clients) are using them to interact with their friends and family about their daily lives, including their pets. How can your veterinary practice start using social media to interact with existing clients and develop new client relationships? Reasons to Use Social Media to Build Relationships According to Forbes, whether it’s the medical, financial and automotive industries, more and more companies are using social media to let people “share their story” and gain feedback from their customers. This helps them better understand their customers. When it comes to building relationships with clients, Diane Rayfield, founder of Chicago, Ill.-based full-service social media agency Harp Social, explained that social media is the perfect tool to accomplish this. “If a vet office or an animal hospital was to use social media, there would be different benefits they could gain from that,” Rayfield said. “One would be to develop relationships with their current clientele as well as gain awareness with new or potential audiences. They can also gain trust and authority using social media.” While there are numerous social media platforms, …
Is Your Office Culture Negatively Affecting Your Well-Being?April 8, 2015Most of us spend the bulk of our waking hours at work. So, it’s important that we feel respected, supported and appreciated in our work environment. However, numerous studies show that’s not the case for the majority of employees in today’s workforce. Work-related stress can be a significant cause of mental and physical illness. And, it’s linked to costly problems like absenteeism and employee turnover. Veterinarians in practice are expected to excel in an incredible array of stressful demands. Demands that begin with educational standards prior to admission to a veterinary college, which continue to escalate throughout multiple years of medical training and then mushroom with entrance into the profession. Finally, we have begun to recognize the reality of potential effects of high-stress levels veterinarians face by juggling a variety of non-negotiable responsibilities. For example: Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of a broad variety of medical knowledge across multiple species; Keeping clients happy; Dealing with conflicting ethical issues; Hiring, training and maintaining a highly qualified staff. Sadly, tragic consequences for several well-known colleagues have resulted in numerous studies and articles focusing on mental health issues experienced by a large number of veterinarians. Terms we see in …
The 2015 "They Ate What?!" Radiograph Contest Now Accepting Entries!March 26, 2015Entries are being accepted for Veterinary Practice News' 10th annual radiograph contest, "They Ate WHAT?" Pet health insurer Trupanion of Seattle is sponsoring the contest. The top three winners will be awarded cash prizes. First prize is $1,500; second prize, $1,000; third prize, $500. Shawn Messonnier, DVM, Paws & Claws Animal Hospital, Plano, Texas Kermit the frog was the 2014 "They Ate What?!" Radiograph Contest winner. More than 30 small ornamental rocks were found inside Kermit, but were removed without complications. Entries must be submitted electronically by June 30. Clinics that don't have digital radiography may submit digital photos of their qualifying films. Email radiographs to VPNeditor@luminamedia.com or use our online submission form. The submission must include the submitter's name, clinic address, a telephone number and a short explanation of the case, including outcome. Photographs of the pet and removed items may also be sent, as in the case of last year's third-place winner, the dog that ate 43 ½ socks. The photo of the socks paired nicely with the X-ray. Entries become the property of Lumina Media, the parent company of Veterinary Practice News, which reserves the right to use …
Try to Look at Dentistry From the Client’s SideMarch 11, 2015Originally published in the February 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News Imagine you’re a dog owner and visit the veterinarian for your dog’s annual checkup. You spend $208 for an exam, vaccines and diagnostic tests.1 During the exam, the doctor diagnoses your dog with grade 2 dental disease and recommends treatment. A technician gives you an estimate for $427.1 You’re facing a total of $635 in veterinary care—when you assumed your dog just needed an exam, vaccines and heartworm/tick and intestinal parasite tests. Not surprisingly, 34 percent of pet owners say their veterinary bills are higher than they expected, according to the Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study.2 Veterinarians often diagnose dental disease during routine exams because 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats age 3 and older have dental disease, according to the American Veterinary Dental Society.3 Your team’s ability to confidently explain the dental diagnosis, treatment and fees will determine whether pets get needed medical care. To take a fresh approach to client communication, look at dentistry from the client’s side of the exam table. Here are common client reactions when hearing dental recommendations and how to respond: “Sure, my pet has bad breath. That’s normal.” Teach pet owners …
