I’m still getting used to this strange bedfellow of ours. What’s more, I’m not quite sure what to make of the fact I can’t manage to despise it yet. Never in a million years would I have predicted the relative equanimity I’ve experienced throughout this process. After all, as anyone who has caught any part of my decades-long writing career can attest, I’ve carefully nurtured a poisonous aversion to corporate takeovers in veterinary medicine.
Used car salespeople get a bad rap. We all know they are just trying to make a living, but that does not keep almost every young veterinarian from invoking this simile when faced with the prospect of proposing expensive pet care. They find it hard to shake the feeling price may determine whether a patient lives or dies—we all do.
Used car salespeople get a bad rap. We all know they are just trying to make a living, but that does not keep almost every young veterinarian from invoking this simile when faced with the prospect of proposing expensive pet care. They find it hard to shake the feeling price may determine whether a patient lives or dies—we all do.
There are so many powers in play (educational, generational, familial, and geographical factors, etc.), but columnist, Dr. Patty Khuly lists top four she considers as the most daunting stumbling blocks to practice ownership.
Since independent clinics are small, we are nimble. We just have to keep thinking outside that damned box. With that in mind, here are six ideas Dr. Patty Khuly has been pondering with an eye toward spicing up how we think about independent small animal practice.
Since independent clinics are small, we are nimble. We just have to keep thinking outside that damned box. With that in mind, here are six ideas Dr. Patty Khuly has been pondering with an eye toward spicing up how we think about independent small animal practice.
Over the past decade or so I’ve witnessed the rising popularity of a practice style I’ve snarkily termed “frogmarched” vet care; To force (someone) to walk forward by holding and pinning their arms from behind.
In its most effective manifestation, clients are shuttled through a scripted process involving rapid-fire assessments and minimal human interaction. The goal is to increase productivity and maximize profitability by minimizing time-consuming client-staff interactions. In this way, patients are attended more …
To glean a proper appreciation of an industry’s dynamics via veterinary conferences I like to take a three-pronged approach: 1) Concentrate on the periphery of the exhibition hall. 2) Interview random veterinarians and do not skip the small talk with veterinary technicians and vet students. 3) Attend panel discussions on cultural issues or practice management.
“The biggest threat to the veterinary psyche is not over the death of animals. It has more to do with their humans.”
Some of us practice for years before acquiring challenges that preclude our ability to fully embrace traditional practice. While most who encounter these common obstacles feel compelled to see their way through however they can, there are limits to what any of us should drive ourselves to endure.
