Community Activities Fuel Practice Growth For David Beltran, DVMApril 4, 2013Engineer-turned-veterinarian says biggest factor in his success is volunteerism. To understand the influence David Beltran, DVM, has had on a generation of California kids, just look at Monica Trujillo. When Trujillo was in the fifth grade, her mother signed her up to volunteer at Beltran's practice, Veterinary Healthcare Service in Monterey Park, Calif. One day a week, after school, she'd show up faithfully. At first, she just cleaned tables and mopped floors. Soon, Trujillo was making labels and counting pills; eventually, she was trained in more complex tasks, such as taking patient histories and assisting during exams. The day she turned 16, Beltran hired her as a tech, a job she held through high school and college. And later this year, with more than 10 years of practical experience under her belt, Trujillo will apply to veterinary school—a dream she directly attributes to her long-ago opportunity at the clinic. Dr. Beltran is committed to serving his community, both as a veterinarian and as a volunteer. “I love veterinary medicine, and I know exactly what I'm getting into, thanks to Dr. Beltran,” she says. “I am so lucky I was able to start here as a volunteer.” Trujillo is …
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How To Avoid Sticker Shock At Your Veterinary HospitalApril 1, 2013 Have you ever slapped a client? You probably have and didn't realize it. While shadowing an appointment during a consultation, I observed a receptionist at the front desk. She said, “That will be $302 today,” and slapped the client with sticker shock. “Wow! That's as much as my car payment,” the client exclaimed. Asked about price, 34 percent of clients say veterinary care is higher than they expected, according to the Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study.1 Every team member influences perception of value. Here are ways you can turn the smack of price into satisfied clients: Schedule first, pay last at checkout. If a patient needs follow-up care, make the appointment before presenting today's invoice. Sticker shock may cause the client to hesitate to come back, assuming she'll pay the same $302 next time. Because the veterinarian wants to see a dog with a skin infection again in two weeks, the receptionist should say, “Dr. Olson needs to see your dog in two weeks to ensure the skin infection has healed. That would be Feb. 22. Does this same time work for you?” Direct the client to a specific …
Pet Insurance Myths DispelledMarch 29, 2013 There's a lot of information out there about pet insurance, but there's a lot of misinformation, too. Pet health insurance is on the rise, growing tenfold over the last 10 years, according to the Better Business Bureau, from one pet insurance company in 1997 to 12 companies in the United States today. And with roughly 1 percent of U.S. dogs and cats insured, compared with one-fifth of pets in the United Kingdom, the industry can expect that growth to continue, according to BBB. Despite the optimistic outlook, one of the most common myths that plagues the pet insurance industry is that it will turn pet care into HMO-type healthcare to which humans are subject. Kerri Marshall, DVM, chief veterinary officer for Trupanion in Seattle, Wash., said she doubts the changing world of pet insurance will leave pet owners navigating HMO-like mazes and rules. “Understandably, veterinarians don't want to see pet insurance providers controlling the way they price,” Dr. Marshall said. “This concern comes from these veterinarians' interactions with pet insurance providers who reimburse based on benefit schedules. They see that these providers are reimbursing only a portion of the price they charge, saying that the …
6 Things Learned From Other Veterinary SpecialistsMarch 28, 2013Even specialists can learn a lot from each other. I recently talked to an infectious disease specialist and an anesthesiologist to find answers to some common but tough questions. 1. Implants and UTI Say your patient has had a TPLO, or a fracture repaired with a plate and screws. A few days, months or years after the surgery, your patient has a urinary tract infection. How worried should you be about surgical site infection (a.k.a. SSI)? Scott Weese, a board-certified internist turned infectious disease specialist at the University of Guelph vet school (Canada), says that the risk is probably not too high. We don't have clear evidence that dogs with UTIs are likely to become bacteremic, which would be the main route of UTI-associated SSI. Having an opportunistic pathogen in the bladder probably doesn't constitute that much added risk because the bacteria would be dwarfed by the large populations of commensal flora containing potential pathogens in the gut, skin and other locations. 2. Implants and MRSA Would Dr. Weese's answer change if the culprit were a methicillin-resistant bacteria? In the case of an active or recent methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or staphylococcus pseudintermedius, or for that matter, any other concerning multidrug resistant …
The Bigger Person And Customer ServiceMarch 21, 2013 Now I'm not one to usually complain about the customer service I receive out and about … well, I don't usually complain to the person or boss of the person who has treated me rudely; I may complain to anyone else who will listen. In general, I'm pretty easy going. Yet when faced with someone I feel is rude every time we interact, the same person at the same place that I frequent, is a bit much even for me. So this person acted rude to me the other day, and I was quite miffed. So miffed, that some thoughts went through my head such as, “I'm gonna tell her boss that she is always rude to me,” or “I'm going to ask her coworker what her name is, and what her PROBLEM is … ” and somehow make my feelings known. Then I thought about the rude scenarios, and realized that unless I could very clearly represent the TONE of her voice when she said what she said, no one else would “get” how rude she really was. …
Self-test: What Kind Of Person Are You?March 19, 2013 Tasha, a 9-year-old female golden retriever, needed surgery to remove a thyroid tumor. Although the tumor was richly vascularized, surgery went well and Tasha recovered nicely. However, a few hours after surgery, Tasha became dull and less responsive. Her breathing pattern was very odd, a strange combination of inspiratory and expiratory effort. A few hours after waking up, she arrested. CPR was unfortunately unsuccessful. A tumor thrombus or a blood clot to the lungs and/or the brain was suspected. Of course, I called the owner to offer my condolences. A week later, I mustered enough courage to call the owner, a physician, to check on him. I had spent a lot of time with him and answered multiple questions during the consultation, so I probably developed a stronger bond than with most clients. He was very understanding, and knew that sometimes things go wrong even though everything was done right. The owner shared a concept that I have never heard before. Surely you have heard the ultra-classic quote, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." Well, here's a twist on that quote, courtesy of Tasha's owner. According to him, …
Watch Your Mouth, Part 3March 13, 2013I've talked about what to say and what not to say to clients before, such as in my previous blogs, Watch Your Mouth 1 and Watch Your Mouth 2. I have some additional thoughts about the vital topic of communicating with clients. I've heard several more team members talk so loudly (or laugh, or use four-letter words) that clients waiting in rooms must hear them. How embarrassing … To a grieving or worried client, laughter might seem insulting or heartless. And to any client, cursing is probably a huge disappointment. Routine There should be no such thing as a “routine” surgery or procedure. Such was the opinion of a surgeon I worked with. The word routine was forbidden in surgery reports and any client communication. His concern was that if something goes wrong, you don't want a judge or a friendly member of your state board asking you: “So is it routine for you to have a dehiscence after a ‘routine' laparotomy?” This surgeon preferred the word “standard.” A procedure described in a surgery book is standardized. When multiple surgeons perform a surgery in the same manner, it is a …
122-Foot Screen To Show Live Surgeries During AAHA ConferenceMarch 12, 2013 The Live Surgery Suite sessions are to be performed remotely at Mississippi State University and at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego. Attendees will be able to watch a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy, a pediatric spay and neuter, a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, a joint tap, a chest tube placement, a jugular catheter placement, an esophagostomy tube placement and an endotracheal wash. A panel of experts onstage will walk the audience through what is being shown, display the equipment used and answer questions, said John Fritschler, AAHA's director of education. The viewing is to be done on a 122-foot-wide by 22-foot-tall high-definition screen. “No other conference has anything like this available,” Fritschler added. The videos will be added to AAHA's online Learning Library at www.aahaeducation.org and may be accessed for free or for a fee, depending on the viewer. “Our new learning environment allows us to promote adult learning with in-depth, interactive presentations on relevant and practical topics,” said Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, executive director and CEO of the Lakewood, Colo., association. The Live Surgery Suite is …
The Pluses And Minuses Of Corporate PracticeMarch 7, 2013 Ted Sprinkle, DVM, has been in the veterinary field for more than 20 years, and in that time he’s owned three small animal practices and an equine practice. Dr. Sprinkle, owner of Wilmington, N.Y.-based Pet Partners, knows one thing for sure: The industry is changing, and he believes he can help veterinary clinic owners change with it. “From my perspective, corporate affiliate practices are the future of primary care practice,” Sprinkle said. Pet Partners owns 36 practices, with several holdings in Denver, in Texas and on out to the East Coast. “Most of the veterinarians who sell to Pet Partners are individuals who are looking to get back to practicing medicine and looking at doing away with all the management and administrative burdens they carry,” he said. A top reason independent clinic owners sell to corporations is the benefit of unburdening those owners of their management responsibilities, say many who are familiar with corporate practices. What else do corporate practices offer vets? “We offer a consistent emphasis on medicine,” Sprinkle said. “We try to tend to inspire veterinarians to come back and practice the way they remember it.” While clinic owners are of interest …
A Lesson From SpamFebruary 27, 2013 So any of us who have email are familiar with the word “spam,” although I’m not certain where we came to identify this “meat” product with unwanted emails … a mystery. Regardless, we have learned that spam is something we don’t want, and is potentially dangerous to the unassuming public. So if we all know this, how come we continue to be inundated with unwanted spam emails? Must be that someone, somewhere, is still gullible enough to believe … and that’s all it takes. For example, for quite a while I was barraged by emails regarding, well, methods to "increase the male delivering power” for lack of a more appropriate term. Of course that may have not appealed to me personally, but what if I was a man looking for the “magic wand” to increase my virility? Given the amount of emails I received, I’m thinking that someone must have taken these companies up on their offer, or they wouldn’t be so persistent in repeating the email push. Now, those emails have all but disappeared, and instead I’m hearing from a whole bunch of well-known celebrities claiming weight loss miracles. Now, having always had issues with …
