How to Discuss Costs of Preventive Care With Your Veterinary ClientsSeptember 25, 2015Originally published in the September 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News Pet owners may not budget for routine preventive care and can be surprised at the cost. A pet owner with an adult dog 1 to 6 years old can expect to spend $107 for a preventive veterinary care exam, distemper and rabies vaccines, intestinal parasite screen and heartworm test, according to the American Animal Hospital Association Veterinary Fee Reference, 9th edition.1 Add 12 months of flea/tick and heartworm prevention for $300, which averages $25 a month, and the visit would total $407. Too often, pet owners perceive that “shots” were $407! Your health care team’s ability to confidently explain financial information to clients affects their decisions to accept preventive care. Asked about price, 34 percent of pet owners say veterinary care is higher than they expected, according to the Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study.2 Here’s how to handle financial conversations during preventive care visits. 1. Have technicians give an overview of services without prices. The technician should introduce himself, explain his role and prepare the client for which services are due. Say, “Good morning, I’m <your name>, the …
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Pregnant Veterinary Staff? Follow These HR RulesSeptember 23, 2015Originally published in the September 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. “It must be in the water!” You may have thought this when it seems like everyone in the practice is pregnant at the same time. With the veterinary profession being predominantly female, pregnancy is an ongoing issue in our workplaces. While pregnant women are a protected class — legally protected from discrimination — this should not keep us from considering pregnant team members as valuable, contributing parts of our team. We also should not be afraid to hold them to a standard of performance. The important thing is to have the right mindset and open up an ongoing conversation with the mother-to-be. It is not uncommon for team members who leave for the birth of their child to choose not to return to work, or at least not to the same practice. How we handle the pregnancy could be a precursor to whether that team member will return after the baby is born. Many people seem to think that once a woman is pregnant, she no longer can be fired or involuntary terminated. …
How to Go Fear Free in Your Veterinary ClinicSeptember 21, 2015Originally published in the September 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Here is the scary reality of our profession: Despite our best efforts, 37 percent of dog owners and 58 percent of cat owners say their pets hate going to the veterinarian, according to the 2014 Bayer Veterinary Healthcare Usage Study. In addition, 26 percent of dog owners and 38 percent of cat owners report that just thinking about going to the vet is stressful. Most patients, even the silent or seemingly happy ones, experience some level of anxiety, stress or even fear. When they are driven to a strange-smelling building, are circled or feel cornered by other pets and people, and have strangers grab them, lift them, hold them down and stick things into places they thought were one-way only, why are we surprised that pets are stressed out? The entire process is frightening. Stress makes the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis release multiple hormones that lead to negative physiological and metabolic changes. The fight or flight mechanism sometimes starts before patients leave their driveway. Veterinarian Marty …
About Veterinary Malpractice InsuranceSeptember 18, 2015Veterinary malpractice law has evolved significantly in the past 50 years. This evolution has tracked an evolution in the way in which the law views pets, from mere property to a specialized category of property with subjective value, akin to “heirlooms, family treasures, and works of art, or family heirlooms” (Houseman v. Dare), or even as companions and protectors (Brousseau v. Rosenthal). The effects of this evolution have significantly impacted veterinary malpractice cases. For a more extensive review of the legal issues, see “Detailed Discussion of Veterinary Malpractice” by David S. Favre, Michigan State University College of Law, which: “provides a short history of the development of veterinary malpractice as a cause of action and also explores the elements of a malpractice suit. It further delineates the concepts of standard of care, proximate cause, and res ipsa loquitur. Defenses to malpractice actions are also discussed.” The overview of case law presented herein should be considered …
The Story Behind the X-ray of Dog Who Ate a Door HingeSeptember 2, 2015If it’s one thing veterinarians learn after being in practice for a while, it’s learning to never say you’ve seen it all. As soon as someone thinks that, inevitably animal will come in with a case that’s unprecedented. Veterinary Practice News’ annual “They Ate What?!” contest has brought to light some very unusual cases that stunned even the most experienced vets. Third Place: Dog, Unhinged Six-month-old Labrador Retriever puppy Avery came into her veterinarian’s office after vomiting several times. At the Cherryville Animal Hospital in Cherryville, N.C., Theresa Taylor, DVM, examined the black Lab. “Avery presented with vomiting seven times clear liquid, not eating and uncomfortable for a 24 hour period,” Dr. Taylor says. Avery’s owners suspected she had eaten a sock because there was one missing. They were right—sort of. Avery had indeed eaten something but it wasn’t what they expected. The foreign body was metallic. “When we decided to take the radiograph, we were expecting to see a sock that the owners said she ate a week before,” Taylor says. “When we actually saw the door hinge, we did not believe it.” When Taylor informed the …
Is That a Fishing Pole? The Story Behind Crazy X-raySeptember 2, 2015If it’s one thing veterinarians learn after being in practice for a while, it’s learning to never say you’ve seen it all. As soon as someone thinks that, inevitably animal will come in with a case that’s unprecedented. Veterinary Practice News’ annual “They Ate What?” contest has brought to light some very unusual cases that stunned even the most experienced vets. Second Place: Puppy Who Ate a Fishing Pole The beginning of the story isn’t very clear. A Good Samaritan found a stray Labrador Retriever puppy wandering around … somewhere. The little guy was vomiting, so whoever found the pup brought him into an emergency veterinary clinic and dropped him off. The ER team went to work and figured that, because he was a puppy, the vomiting was probably caused by parvo. In the morning, the puppy was transferred over to the adjoining daytime veterinary clinic, Woodland West Animal Hospital in Tulsa, Okla. There the puppy was examined by Mike Jones, DVM. “That morning they just transferred the puppy to us and at that …
Behind the X-ray: One Dog, 26 GolfballsSeptember 2, 2015If it’s one thing veterinarians learn after being in practice for a while, it’s learning to never say you’ve seen it all. As soon as someone thinks that, inevitably animal will come in with a case that’s unprecedented. Veterinary Practice News’ annual “They Ate What?” contest has brought to light some very unusual cases that stunned even the most experienced vets. First Place: Dog Who Ate 26 Golfballs Courtesy jennifer branch Zeus, a 1-year-old neutered Doberman Pinscher wound up at the vet after some vomiting. He seemed to be OK — he had an appetite and his belly palpitated normally. But a couple days later Zeus’ condition had worsened. His appetite waned and his stomach appeared to bother him. “He was still throwing up some liquid and maybe starting to act a little bit sicker,” says Gordon Schmucker, DVM, of Lisbon Veterinary Clinic in Lisbon, Ohio. “We did blood work and that’s when we took some X-rays and it went from there.” The staff took the initial radiographs and reported that something, well, didn’t look right. …
2015 X-Ray Contest WinnersAugust 31, 2015Every year for the past decade, Veterinary Practice News has hosted the annual “They Ate What?!” competition, where veterinarians send in the most eye-popping radiographs their practices have encountered. In past years, our judges have seen plenty of balls in bellies. But not 26 golf balls in one Dobie belly. The radiograph and corresponding photo won first place for Gordon Schmucker, DVM, of Lisbon Veterinary Clinic in Lisbon, Ohio. This year’s contest was sponsored by Trupanion pet insurance of Seattle. The Veterinary Practice News editorial team judged the entries. First prize received $1,500; second, $1,000; and third, $500. Mike Jones, DVM, of Woodland West Animal Hospital in Tulsa, Okla., won second place with his 10-week old Labrador, who had ingested the end of a fishing pole. Theresa Taylor, DVM, of Cherryville Animal Hospital in Cherryville, N.C., won third place. Her radiograph found a door hinge in a 6-month-old Lab. “Foreign body ingestions are among the most common high-dollar claims we cover,” said Steve Weinrauch, BVMS, MRCVS, Trupanion’s chief veterinary officer. "It’s our second most common claim for dogs and third most …
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What Do Vets Do?August 26, 2015The weather was perfect for a small town Christmas parade. Our three young kids were beyond excited about riding along Main Street, lined with people who would focus on them as they passed by. My job was to walk alongside the float making sure no child accidentally fell off during the procession. You may have guessed what happened to make that story relevant to, “What do veterinarians do?” Several times, in the midst of bands playing and candy throwing, a client or an acquaintance grabbed my arm, pulled me to the side and asked for advice about things related to their animals. Yes, it was a little distracting, but not enough to compare to the sense of identity it gave me. Those folks knew me, they trusted my opinion, and they respected the profession that I represented. They knew what I did. We lived month-to-month financially in those days, but no amount of money could have yielded the same effect. It was one of those moments when you know on a deep level why you chose to spend a lifetime in veterinary medicine. What People Think Vets Do If asked …
