EVT Magazine January/February 2012 Issue

Features

As a practice owner or manager, your goal is to have a practice that focuses on a culture of excellent patient care and safety.

Must-Have iPad Apps & Accessories

We asked EVT and Clinician’s Brief readers to tell us which iPad applications and accessories are making their lives as veterinary professionals easier. Here’s what they said.

How To Handle Crucial Conversations

A patient has cancer. A routine surgery went terribly wrong and your patient didn’t make it. How do you approach clients when you have to deliver terrible news?

Welcome Home, Team: That's Progress

Have you ever arrived at your veterinary clinic or hospital, ready to take on a day that promises plenty of opportunities to care for patients and serve clients, only to feel that you’re in this alone?

Creating an Animal Hospital Website

It’s a new year and you’ve decided that the time has come to set up a website for your practice. After all, 97% of people searching for local services begin their search online. There are myriad resources available on the internet and in print to guide you, but setting up your own site involves 4 basic steps.

5 Steps to Effective Feedback

Veterinary medicine is a challenging profession, as many of us are medical professionals as well as small business owners or employees.

Technician Utilization

Writing an article on technician utilization isn’t easy; familiar frustrations begin to well up. Fighting for professional recognition within the veterinary community is tough enough, but technicians also have to respond to clients who ask, “Are you the vet?” or “Do you plan to become one someday?”

Veterinary Technician Skill-Building Tips

1. Simple Cytology
Ear cytology samples, blood smear examinations, and platelet counts are all commonly performed procedures that involve simple setup. Interpretation does not comprise a diagnosis (the veterinarian’s domain) but is part of the fact-finding process in which veterinary technicians can participate. Follow these “tech tips” for producing quality slides.

Building a Home to Care for Your Clients: Part 1

“Today has been a good day,” you think to yourself. Things are running according to schedule. The surgery patients are recovering well and so far your appointments have been pretty straightforward.

How to Discuss Professionalism with Your Team

Does any of this sound familiar? Anna, the new technician, was sent home this morning to change into soil-free scrubs. Dr. Rosen showed up an hour late, inconveniencing the rest of the team. He didn’t bother to call and let anyone know he’d be late—again. And just when your day was getting better, an angry client accused Derek, your receptionist, of being nasty to her on the phone.

Microchipping Process

Use these helpful tips for the Microchipping Process.

My Personal Growth Chart for 2012

Enhance your contribution to your practice and gain the personal satisfaction that comes from learning and doing the best job possible for your patients and clients. Use this handout to track your personal growth for 2012.

Practice Goals for 2012

Use this handout as a template to develop a list of goals for your practice.

Veterinary Team Development Worksheet

Use this worksheet to help improve your team development.

Manage Your Progress: Guidelines to Make 2012 the Best Year Ever

Use these tips to help manage the progress of your veterinary team and individual team members as they plan for the year ahead.

Reducing Workplace Toxicity

Learn how to reduce workplace toxicity by using this handout.

Putting Empathy into Practice

Learn how to practice the concept of expressing empathy into practice with your team by using the handout above.

Protocol Planner

Plan how your top idea will be implemented using this Protocol Planner.

Goal Planning and Implementation Template

Please click on the PDF to download tips on goal planning and implementation.

How to Run an Effective Brainstorming Session

Please click on the PDF for a handout on how to run an effection brainstorming session.

Intestinal Parasite/Zoonotic Detection & Prevention Protocol

Please click on the PDF icon to see an example of a protocol organized by team role.

Editor’s Letter

“Dr. Ruby, there’s obviously nothing I can do to help you see that I’m a good person and that I do care about our clients. I just made a simple mistake. Why won’t you believe me?”

What’s the most difficult conversation you ever had with a client, and how was it resolved?

EVT asked 3 veterinarians about their toughest conversations with clients, and how they dealt with these difficult situations.