THE BUSINESS OF PRACTICE: TODAY’S PRACTICE


go to work? There are no defined rewards; we have no scale to tell how we are doing. I was so enslaved to this way of thinking that I couldn’t get away from it. I never knew if I was making an A, B, C, D, or F. So I decided to make a grade scale and use it with each client. I would actually write it on the medical records at the end of an encounter with a client…A,B,C,D, or F. Here was the scale:


If the client leaves and actively tells people you are a good vet  A


If the client is asked, they will say you are a good vet  B


If the client is asked, they will say that they sim- ply use you  C


If the client is asked, they will say you are not very good  D


If the client leaves and actively tells people you stink  F


By the end of most client encounters, I found that


I could tell what they thought of what I had done. I decided the ultimate challenge was to get an A with a client that had an animal die or if a surgery went bad. I drove along and decided to grade our clinic in the


three areas that Dr. Deyhle had determined were essential for a healthy practice: People: It is an attitude that goes beyond the veterinarians in a practice. It encompasses the en- tire staff and reflects what the priorities of the prac- tice are. If you own a practice, you know this is the tough one. It is hard to be happy all the time. It is hard to tell the story of heart worm infection 12 times a day. It is hard to work 60 to 80 hours in a week and still be fun to be around on Saturday. In fact, I don’t think it is even possible. We need people around us that can be happy when we are not. We need people that are proud of the practice they work for and can’t wait to brag about it when the chance arises. The more staff there are, the harder it is. It is a constant struggle that evolves with new people and old personalities. No veterinary clinic is truly suc- cessful without employees that are wonderful; the doctor cannot do it alone. A successful veterinarian should never take complete credit for the merits of the practice. It is a team effort and all should be praised if things are good. How does your team respond to success, or more importantly, failure? It is persistence in the face of failure that measures the character of the people in a practice. It is sometimes hard to remember that employees are just that—employees. If you own a practice, you know what I mean. Owners get the mindset that everyone thinks the same way they do. This is not so. Employees need to be included in the evolution of the practice whether it is going well or not. People will often choose a veterinary clinic


simply based on the attitude and personality of the doctors and the employees. I analyzed our people: doctors, techs, and office


staff. Look at your practice. What grade would you give them on each client that came through the door today? If you wrote it on the medical records, would you get a 3.5, 2.7, or 4.0? Places: Dr. Deyhle said that one component of practice growth was the services offered. I think this area includes the technical merit and personal- ity of the practice. What is the place like? Is it new? Does it offer more innovative methods and up to date skills? Is it clean and modern? Is the an- imal well cared for? Is there a sense of compassion? Do they go beyond what is expected to see to it that the client understands what is happening? Are the doctors perceived as being really smart and good at their trade? Do they have neat toys that are state of the art? How much time does each client and each animal get? How many follow up phone calls are made? It boils down to how much the practice cares and


how technically advanced they are. Prospective cli- ents are looking closely at these things when consid- ering where to go for veterinary care. If you looked through the eyes of each client that came in the door, what grade would your clinic get? Prices: For some reason, we don’t want to admit


that this makes any difference. We recently were wondering how we fit into the price situation of our geographical area, so we decided to just call around and get a feel for what a few procedures cost. We got a price range from $69.00 to $312.00 to spay a 20 pound dog. Now whether we believe it or not, great service will not always overcome exorbitant prices. There are people out there that are on a budget. I have seen more veterinarians go out of business from high prices than from any other thing. Pricing is a practice philosophy. Do you want to


see a huge volume at low prices or a small volume at higher prices? Do you want to cater to the upper crust or the middle class masses? Do you feel that if you aren’t charging enough you are insulting your ability and level of education? Do you find yourself continually comparing the cost of similar human procedures done by medical doctors? People often make a choice simply based on price.


This is especially true when it comes to elective procedures and drug sales. Is your practice healthy on the pricing side of things? This is the area that “practice analyzers” have a field day with. They are money-oriented and want you to analyze every- thing as a return on investment. It is a natural thought progression to charge more


for something as we get better at it or tired of doing it. If you don’t like doing a C-section on a cow that has had a dead calf in it for 8 days, charge more. The theory here is that almost every job can be fun if you are paid enough to do it. The problem with this is that eventually almost every task becomes


AAEP PROCEEDINGS  Vol. 60  2014 259


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