IV AAEP News November 2020
BUSINESS OF PRACTICE How to leverage your equine team to the max, continued
Definitions of Direct and Indirect Supervision (may vary by state) further define the delegation of duties. The following definitions are from the AVMA Model Practice Act (MPA 2019:
avma.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/ Model-Veterinary-Practice-Act.pdf).
Direct Supervision: A licensed veterinarian is readily available on the premises where the patient is being treated and has assumed responsibility for the veterinary care given to the patient by a person working under his or her direction.
Indirect Supervision: A licensed veterinarian need not be on the premises; has given either written or oral instructions for treatment of the patient; is readily available by telephone or other forms of immediate communication; and has assumed responsibility for the veterinary care given to the patient by a person working under his or her direction.
At the Banfield Summit in Portland in September 2018, team utilization was a hot topic. Daniel Aja, DVM, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Banfield Pet Hospital, suggested veterinarians are getting in the way of veterinary technicians not being utilized. During the summit,Veterinary Nurse Initiative rolled out the chart seen in Fig. 14
(on the preceding page).
Team utilization and leveraging is not a new concept, yet managers and veterinarians may not have knowledge of
the training veterinary technicians and assistants received from colleges. Keeping the simple formula outlined above, veterinarians diagnose, prescribe, design treatment plans, and perform surgery. Credentialed veterinary technicians, assistants, receptionists, and managers perform all the other tasks in delivering team-centered veterinary care.
References
1. Moore IC. Exploring and evaluating veterinary team effectiveness in companion animal practice. University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada, Thesis, 2013.
2. Moore IC, Coe JB, Adams CL, et al. The role of veterinary effectiveness in job satisfaction and burnout in companion animal veterinary clinics. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2014;245: 513524.
3. AVMA’s Duties and Task List. Available from:
https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/resources/scope_vet_assistant_duties.pdf.
4. Rose RJ, Mikita D. Leveraging your team to its MAX! Veterinary Practice News. 2018. Available from:
https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/leveraging-your-team-to-its-max/.
5. Rose RJ, Mikita D. Management verses micromanagement, CATALYST VetPC. 2017. Available from:
http://catalystvetpc.com/management-vs-micromanagement/.
6. RJ Rose. How veterinary teams can unleash their fullest potential. Veterinary Practice News. August 2017. Available from:
https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/clearmission- can-spur-purpose/.
7. Coe JB, Rose RJ. Team + training + trust = team satisfaction, quality patient care and profitability. NAVTA. 2018. Available from:
https://www.navta.net/page/TEAM TRUSTTRAINING.
Rebecca Rose is founder of CATALYST Veterinary Professional Coaches in Littleton, Colo. She has 30 years of experience as a credentialed veterinary technician, industry leader, practice manager, author, non-profit board member and educational facilitator. This article originally appeared in the 2019 AAEP Convention Proceedings.
ETHICS Ethics in action
As an educational resource for members, the AAEP’s Professional Conduct & Ethics Committee has compiled synopses of real-life ethical situations and issues addressed by the committee in recent years. A different matter will be presented each month, with names omitted to protect the privacy of those involved.
Case 1 AAEP member “Dr.A” was promoting a same-day chip removal surgery for horses at a prominent sales venue, with immediate return to the sales grounds following the surgery. Although no member-on-member complaint was filed, this circumstance was brought to the attention of the AAEP’s Professional Conduct & Ethics Committee.
Concerns regarding this approach were: 1. The lack of appropriate recovery time for the horses receiving this surgery
2. The nature of the sales environment, which includes hard surfaces, repeated showing of the animals multiple times per day, and repeated removal of bandages over the surgery site
3. Concerns of the availability of an appropriate medical history of the patients and a valid veterinari- an-client-patient relationship
The committee sent a letter to Dr. A requesting additional background and his perspective on the potential health and welfare concerns with this type of approach in sale horses.
During this time, the sales company required Dr. A to stop promoting this service on the sales grounds and imposed other restrictions for horses returning to the sales grounds following surgery.
Dr. A responded satisfactorily in writing to the committee’s inquiry.
Outcome: No further action was taken by the committee.
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