New Hospital Network Known as Ethos Veterinary HealthFebruary 9, 2016Four specialty hospital groups have officially merged under the newly identified parent company Ethos Veterinary Health. Ethos is made up of 13 referral hospitals stretching from the northeastern United States to Southern California. Each location will retain the name of its respective group: IVG Hospitals, Premier Veterinary Group, Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital and Veterinary Specialty Hospital. The corporate title was announced today, weeks after the merger closed in December and nearly 11 months after the marriage was proposed. The transaction is being funded through a $21 million secured loan from Citizens Bank of Boston, Ethos reported. “Becoming one organization allows us to fully leverage our collective expertise,” said CEO Ames Prentiss, the son of IVG founder John Prentiss, DVM. “We’re building a national model that will leverage the regional investments we made over the years in education, compounding pharmacy and reference lab expertise.” Ethos plans to expand its network of specialty referral and emergency hospitals over time, the company reported. The leadership at each of the four groups remains in place. “This is truly a merger of four companies with the same people in place, both locally and nationally,” Ethos stated. IVG Hospitals is the largest group, with hospitals in Natick, …
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University of Guelph Creates Downloadable Tool to Improve Disease ResponseFebruary 9, 2016The University of Guelph recently reported that its researchers have created a decision-making tool that could aid in prioritizing responses to zoonotic diseases and outbreaks. “From rabies to Ebola, how do you decide which zoonotic diseases to prioritize?” said Jan Sargeant, DVM, Ph.D., director of Guelph’s Center for Public Health and Zoonoses, and a professor in the Department of Population Medicine at U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College. “There are not enough resources to prevent and control all of them.” Currently, different public health organizations use different prioritization criteria. “There was definitely a research gap in terms of understanding how individuals and organizations prioritize zoonotic diseases,” said Dr. Sargeant, former holder of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) chair in applied public health. She hoped to find ways to improve zoonotic disease responses among experts in agriculture, government and animal and human health, according to the university. Sargeant teamed up with Victoria Ng, Ph.D., a senior scientific evaluator at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), to create the new tool involving an Excel spreadsheet program. Based on a statistical method used in market research, the tool determines how …
Tortoise Relieved of Massive Bladder StoneFebruary 8, 2016How does a veterinarian remove a large bladder stone from a tortoise? Start with a power saw and finish with a bit of glue. Tampa, Fla., practitioner Peter Helmer, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, did just that after a 55-pound Sulcata tortoise called Sully needed a bladder stone the size of a softball removed from his abdomen. Sully’s owner, Renee Niehaus, took the tortoise to his primary veterinarian because of a nosebleed. When an X-ray revealed the stone, Sully was referred to a BluePearl Veterinary Partners specialty hospital, where he was placed in the care of Dr. Helmer. The veterinarian last week cut open a flap in Sully’s bottom shell using a surgical power saw, BluePearl reported. During the five-hour operation Helmer removed the stone and closed the flap using epoxy. “It went really well,” he said. “I’m always cautiously optimistic, and Sully appears to be doing just fine.” The 6-year-old tortoise was put on pain medication and antibiotics. It won’t be long before Sully, who Niehaus has raised since he was hand-sized, is back at work digging tunnels outside. “He thinks he’s one of the dogs,” said Niehaus, who runs the Largo, Fla., dog boarding and day care …
Trupanion Releases Direct-Payment Claims AppFebruary 4, 2016Pet health insurer Trupanion has moved to an electronic claims system for veterinary practices that install the new Trupanion Express Web-based application. Policyholders can settle their bills at checkout rather than wait for insurance claims to be processed, and hospitals receive same-day reimbursement from Trupanion, often within five minutes. Traditionally, “Pet owners are forced to pay veterinary invoices on their credit card in hopes of reimbursement,” said Trupanion’s CEO, Darryl Rawlings. “Meanwhile, veterinarians are forced to process cumbersome paperwork and bear the cost of credit card fees.” Trupanion Express is free to clinics and is compatible with AVImark, Cornerstone, ImproMed Infinity and VIA practice management systems. The app was developed over three years at a cost of $17 million and was tested at a select number of veterinary hospitals before the nationwide release Wednesday, the Seattle-based company reported. Among the clinics participating in the beta testing phrase was C.A.R.E. Centre Animal Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which was directly reimbursed more than $1.8 million, Trupanion stated. Stratham-Newfields Veterinary Hospital in Newfields, N.H., processed 1,956 claims from its 235 Trupanion-insured clients and was paid more than $530,000. “We pay the veterinarian directly so they won’t have to incur credit card …
University of Idaho to Close Caine Veterinary Teaching CenterFebruary 4, 2016The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences reported in late January that it will close the Caine Veterinary Teaching Center by year’s end in order to adopt a new approach for educating veterinary students. This new approach will include placing veterinary faculty throughout the state to work more directly with livestock producers and university facilities. “We believe this change is necessary to reflect changes in the regional veterinary education program and to better prepare students to work with Idaho’s livestock producers,” said John Foltz, Ph.D., the college’s dean. “In addition, this change aligns with the university’s ongoing process of refining and redirecting resources in line with guidance from our State Board of Education as we meet changing needs.” The shift will locate faculty positions formerly based at the Caine Center near Caldwell to the nearby Caldwell Research and Extension Center, the Nancy M. Cummings Research, Extension and Education Center near Salmon, UI’s Moscow campus and in the Magic Valley, according to the university. The decision to close the Caine Center also reflects a refocusing of resources over the past decade away from animal research and diagnostic services in Caldwell, the university further noted. “We appreciate the efforts …
Animal Planet Greenlights ‘Penn Vet’ SeriesFebruary 4, 2016Animal Planet announced that it will feature a docu-series tentatively titled “Penn Vet.” The show will follow a group of fourth-year veterinary students from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. The featured students will be of diverse backgrounds, according to PennVet, and show them in handling companion animals at Ryan Hospital in Philadelphia and large animals at New Bolton Center Hospital in Kennett Square. The competitive veterinary school treats over 30,000 patients each year from dogs and cats to iguanas and zebras and just about everything in between. Rich Ross, Group President of Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and Science Channel, said of the docu-series, “Vet students driven by a mission to heal and protect animals take everything they’ve learned and put it to the test in this series. Penn Vet will give our viewers a front row seat to this journey.” Will you watch the docu-series?
Year Before Move, NAVC Hosts Record CrowdFebruary 2, 2016The 33rd annual NAVC conference set an attendance record in January with a count of 17,328. The Orlando, Fla., event, organized by North American Veterinary Community, will head a few miles up Interstate 4 in 2017 to the Orange County Convention Center. The dates are Feb. 4 to 8. The move eliminates three venues used for years—the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, the Orlando World Center Marriott and the Caribe Royale hotel and convention center—and the need for an extensive shuttle bus system. The 2016 conference drew attendees from all 50 states and more than 80 countries. Among them were 7,087 veterinarians, 1,613 veterinary technicians, 601 practice managers and 4,276 exhibitor personnel. During a ceremony held the last day of the conference, Melinda Merck, DVM, was installed as president of the NAVC board. The other 2016-17 officers are Christine Navarre, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, immediate past president; Gail Gibson, VMD, president-elect; Leann Kuebelbeck, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, vice president; Laurel Kaddatz, DVM, treasurer; and directors Paige Allen, MS, RVT, Harold Davis, RVT, VTS, and Cheryl Good, DVM. The conference offered two exhibition halls, more than 1,200 continuing education hours and hands-on laboratories, “Meet the Professor” luncheons, master classes, …
WesternU Holds Grand Opening for Pet Health CenterFebruary 2, 2016Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) reintroduced its Pet Health Center to the community in late January with a ribbon cutting ceremony that included tours of the facility. The focus of the center, according to the university, is to nurture the human-animal bond. CVM fully operates the Pet Health Center, which was previously a Banfield Pet Hospital as part of a 10-year affiliation agreement with Banfield. CVM has spent the past year retraining staff and will continue to make improvements and changes to the center in the coming years, said Phillip Nelson, DVM, PhD, dean of the college. “The vision for our Pet Health Center is to be the essential veterinary resource for the communities and students that we serve,” he said. “Our mission is to enhance and prolong the loving relationship between our clients and their pets for a lifetime. We are committed to making sure that we improve the health of the pets in this community, and in doing so we make a significant contribution to the public health of this community.” The Pet Health Center will be remodeled to create …
App Can Help Eradicate Rabies in IndiaFebruary 1, 2016Rabies could be eradicated from street dogs in India with the help of a new smartphone app, a new study published in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases declares. Researchers are using the app to track free-roaming dogs that have been vaccinated against rabies. According to the study’s abstract: “Over 20,000 people die from rabies each year in India. At least 95 % of people contract rabies from an infected dog. Annual vaccination of over 70 % of the dog population has eliminated both canine and human rabies in many countries. Despite having the highest burden of rabies in the world, there have been very few studies, which have reported the successful, large-scale vaccination of dogs in India. Furthermore, many Indian canine rabies vaccination programs have not achieved high vaccine coverage.” Monitoring them in this way has enabled vets to vaccinate 70 percent of the dog population in the City of Ranchi, which is the threshold needed to minimize the risk that the disease is passed to people. Adopting the approach more widely could help to eliminate rabies from people and animals, the researchers say. Teams vaccinated more than 6,000 dogs in …
Veterinary Prices Inched Upward in 2015January 29, 2016Medical and wellness care prices spiked in the first half of 2015, reversing six years of flat to negative growth in the U.S. veterinary market, according to a new report from Nationwide pet health insurance. The analysis, released in January at the North American Veterinary Community conference, showed that even with the annualized 5.1 percent jump, prices rose by only 0.1 percent overall from 2009 to mid-2015. A previous report had found a 1 percent decline through 2013. The numbers contrast with those of the U.S. Consumer Price Index, which revealed a 15 percent rise in veterinary prices through 2013 and an annualized 2.7 percent increase in the first half of 2015. Nationwide, based in Brea, Calif., sees its data as a more accurate reflection of the market. Federal canvassers call a relatively small number of veterinary practices to collect price information, the company noted, while Nationwide based its data on more than 6 million insurance claims filed since 2009. The study looked only at services for dogs, the bulk of Nationwide’s business. The company collaborated with the Purdue University Krannert School of Management to produce the report. Why prices rose in early 2015 is difficult to ascertain. Company officials thought …
