Get The Facts About PACS Before BuyingMarch 21, 2011 With 36 to 40 percent of practices already using digital imaging, and 90 percent of those hospitals utilizing a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), colleagues looking to upgrade are investigating which PACS product would best suit their needs. While vendors tend to be the common route in which veterinarians learn of their PACS options, some preliminary research gives practitioners a base from which to form questions and make decisions. “Veterinarians should do legwork before contacting a vendor and research not only the different technologies but the software and the capabilities it can deliver with PACS,” says Fotine Sotiropoulos, DVM, marketing manager for digital imaging at Idexx Laboratories of Westbrook, Maine. “Understanding the hospital’s needs and PACS capabilities will help the veterinarian ask the right questions and make an educated decision about the purchase. For example, does the system come with a full PACS? Is the PACS able to handle multiple modalities, such as digital dental or ultrasound? Does the software provide the option to integrate with their product integration modules (PIMS)?” With a full PACS costing about $60,000, including hardware, software and support fees, veterinarians want to be satisfied with their purchase, says Emery …
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Pet Insurance Gurus Answer SkepticsMarch 7, 2011 Many veterinarians say they don’t recommend pet insurance to their clients for a variety of reasons: • It is an inappropriate or unproductive activity. • A fear of powerful insurance companies dictating veterinary practice in the future. • Concerns that pet insurance increases paperwork. • A need for a better understanding of plans. We asked three colleagues in leadership positions at pet insurance companies to address these concerns and a few others. Bill Craig, DVM, chief medical and underwriting director at PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance. • Bill Craig, DVM, is chief medical and underwriting director at PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance in San Antonio. He is responsible for all medical-related aspects of the plan, ranging from designing policies to reviewing applications for medical issues to overseeing claims processing. • Jack Stephens, DVM, is president of Pets Best Insurance in Boise, Idaho. He invented the concept of pet health insurance in the U.S., founding Veterinary Pet Insurance in 1980 and Pets Best in 2005. • Carol McConnell, DVM, MBA, is vice president and chief veterinary medical officer of Veterinary Pet Insurance in Brea, Calif. She has been with VPI for more than six years and is responsible …
Veterinary Equipment Can Pay For ItselfFebruary 14, 2011 Veterinary Equipment Can Pay for Itself and consultants advise looking at the return on investment when weighing a big-ticket purchase. Manufacturers and consultants advise looking at the return on investment when weighing a big-ticket purchase. Manufacturers and consultants advise looking at the return on investment when weighing a big-ticket purchase. Lynn M. Tiffany Investing in new clinic equipment can quickly improve or create a profit center. “Equipment is an investment instead of an expense,” says Jamie Renner, veterinary products market manager at Midmark Corp. of Versailles, Ohio. “Every business owner knows the best investment is in yourself. If veterinarians think in those terms, they are helping their own bottom line.” Vendors can be very helpful to veterinarians, practice owners and managers by providing an analysis of the return on investment, says Shelley Johnson, founder of Company 42 LLC, a veterinary management solutions business in Winchester, Va. “A vendor is motivated to sell equipment,” Johnson notes. “Good business relationships with vendors who help your practice shop for the right equipment may be beneficial. When a high-end purchase is made and installation has been completed, who will help troubleshoot any issues? Some vendors …
Philanthropy: Manufacturers’ Presence Goes Beyond ProductsDecember 20, 2010Some companies such as Hill’s, Nestlé Purina and Bayer support the veterinary community with their generosity. Vendors—the companies that manufacture or supply medications and equipment and provide services to help veterinary practices run smoothly—don’t get much publicity for their behind-the-scenes philanthropic work on behalf of the profession and the animals it serves. Most manufacturers aren’t eager to talk about their contributions, saying they would rather spend dollars doing good than using the money to promote their work. Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. looks for the biggest impact when deciding which organizations to donate to, says marketing official Kurt R. Venator, DVM, Ph.D., of Nestle. “We like to create shared value, which means our contributions will be good for the community and good for the company,” Dr. Venator says. “We have relationships with all of the U.S. veterinary schools, which house the future of the veterinary industry.” Martin Mulroy, vice president of veterinary sales and marketing at Abaxis Inc., says the company maintains a strong relationship with Colorado State University. “We’re participating in the funding of a new avian/exotic animal wing at the veterinary hospital, and we donate equipment to the veterinary school,” he …
Expert Opinion Just Digital Hookup AwayDecember 20, 2010 In the past, obtaining a radiology specialist’s opinion sometimes meant traveling to a veterinary teaching hospital. This required time and money and certainly delayed treatment. Today, telemedicine allows radiologists to diagnose patients without ever placing their hands on the animal. Primary care veterinarians can send X-rays and other medical information electronically and receive a report in a matter of minutes or hours. “Using a telemedicine service means a general practitioner can have a radiology department without having board-certified radiologists on the payroll,” says John Feleciano, DVM, Dipl. ACVR, manager of Idexx/VDIC Telemedicine in Clackamas, Ore. “Veterinarians say they find the service to be professionally and medically enriching and it brings financially tangible and intangible benefits. “Owners are comforted by having a built-in second opinion by board-certified veterinarians.” The days, and sometimes nights, of telemedicine veterinarians are filled with exchanges of medical information and questions. Primary care givers ask specialists to confirm a suspicion or help unravel a complex case. “We have specialists available 24 hours a day, although the cases we receive from midnight to 6 a.m. are generally limited,” says Victor Rendano, VMD, Dipl. ACVR, Dipl. ACVR (RO), president of eVet Diagnostics in …
Financial Opportunity, Challenges AheadDecember 15, 2010 Albert Einstein had it right when he said, “Necessity is the mother of all invention.” For veterinarians, the Great Recession forced the profession to find a way to become more business savvy and sustainable. Amid the economic crisis, a sharp change in veterinary product sales has had some practice owners concerned about their hospitals’ long-term strength. “Veterinarians want to know where they stand in the eyes of lenders and they want to know what they need to do to keep their practice in the green,” says Michael Andrews, DVM, chairman of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI) and owner of Woodcrest Veterinary Clinic in Riverside, Calif. “Focusing on profitability is what NCVEI is suggesting to owners for maintaining practice revenue and building on it.” Veterinary-exclusive sales of maintenance products is a thing of the past. Building on and marketing procedures and modalities offered is the focus for 2011, experts say. One of the first steps in making a practice profitable and attractive to lenders is demystifying why patient visits have declined, Dr. Andrews says. The results of a Brakke study on that very question are expected to be released this month at the …
Vendors Give Back To The Vet CommunityNovember 22, 2010 The companies that manufacture or supply medications and equipment and provide services to help veterinary practices run smoothly also perform behind-the-scenes philanthropic work on behalf of the profession and the animals it serves. Organizations that have compelling missions often earn the philanthropic nod. For example, in 2009 Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. donated $15 million to animal welfare programs alone. Nestlé looks for the biggest impact when deciding which organizations to donate to, says marketing official Kurt R. Venator, DVM, Ph.D., of Nestlé. “We like to create shared value, which means our contributions will be good for the community and good for the company,” Dr. Venator says. “We have relationships with all of the U.S. veterinary schools, which house the future of the veterinary industry.” Martin Mulroy, vice president of veterinary sales and marketing at Abaxis Inc., says the company maintains a strong relationship with Colorado State University. “We’re participating in the funding of a new avian/exotic animal wing at the veterinary hospital, and we donate equipment to the veterinary school,” he said. “We also sponsor chair positions at several other universities, including the University of Florida, Texas A&M and the University of Pennsylvania.” …
Ask Appropriate Questions When Shopping For MonitorNovember 22, 2010 Choosing the right patient monitor for your veterinary practice can be a daunting task, but the keys are determining what’s right for your needs, doing your homework, and asking a lot of questions before signing on the dotted line, say industry experts. Here are some things to keep in mind while shopping. Determine Parameters Are you looking for something to monitor just blood pressure or something that measures multi-parameters? The American Animal Hospital Association and the American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists recommend monitoring blood pressure, ECG/HR, CO2 and SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation). It’s also a good idea to check out your state’s Veterinary Medical Association guidelines. The more parameters, the higher the cost, and one of the most expensive parameters to monitor is the end-title CO2 (ETCO2), which measures the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by the animal, said Dan Kozisek, customer service director of Bionet of Tustin, Calif. “In the past, they’d have to buy a unit with [ETCO2] included, and that would’ve added $3,000 to $4,000 to the price,” he said. A relatively recent advancement is a monitor that is “ETCO2 ready,” making it easy for practitioners to start with …
Animal Welfare Speaker Lays An EggOctober 5, 2010 In August we learned that well over 1,000 people had been sickened by salmonella because of tainted eggs. The subsequent media coverage jangled our profession’s nerves as the poultry industry reeled from accusations of lax oversight and poor sanitation, offering critics easy jugular access on hot-button issues like crowded housing, battery caging and industry ethics. The timing of the crisis, which prompted the largest egg recall in U.S. history, was propitious. I’d just attended an animal welfare symposium at the American Association of Avian Pathologist (AAAP) Conference, and let it suffice to say I was not impressed. “Animal Welfare: Reality, Perception and Thinking Outside the Box” was the symposium’s title. On the basis of this verbiage alone I was prepared to attend a morning-long series of lectures, disagreeable and contentious though many of the concepts and comments might be to a fledgling small-flock consultant like me. Yet it seemed obvious that an organization willing to undertake creative, “outside the box” thinking was interested in progressive approaches to the many welfare problems. Sign me up! Abandon the Bond? In anticipation, I dissected all the AVMA and AAAP position statements on poultry welfare. I devoured …
Do you own a spleen?October 1, 2010BY PHIL ZELTZMAN, DVM, DACVS, CERTIFIED FEAR FREE Dr. M. is a funny woman. When she interviews potential technicians, she knows not to ask illegal questions, such as marital status, ethnic origin and age. Yet without blinking an eye, she asks possible hires if they have a spleen. This was so intriguing to me that of course I had to investigate. Our colleague explained: "I read once in a human morbidity and mortality review that if you do not have your spleen and you are bitten by a dog, the bite has the potential to be fatal. There have been reports of deaths in spleen-less people because of the organ's role in our immunity. Since I've read this article, I thought I should make sure any potential technician does own a spleen." Indeed, an old JAVMA article* describes dysgonic fermenter-2 infections. Since then, the "fastidious, gram-negative, opportunistic" bacterium was renamed Capnocytophaga canimorsus. More recently, Scott Weese, DVM, DACVIM, has written about this topic in his excellent blog (wormsandgermsblog.com). His is an associate professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Simply said, our internist has become an infectious disease specialist. Here how …
