EVT Magazine July/August 2012 Issue

Features

As veterinary medicine advances into providing high-quality—and sometimes highly technical—healthcare for pets, it is prudent for hospitals to investigate implementing treatment protocols, also called treatment bundles, to speed up and standardize patient care, especially in an emergency setting.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Self-Coaching Approach to Career Assessment

In a recent Deloitte survey, 20% of people reported being truly passionate about their work. A Gallup survey concluded that the vast majority of workers are disengaged.

Why Have You Fired a Client?

EVT asked these three veterinarians why they’ve had to fire a client and what happened.

Creating Technician Technique: The Efficient, Effective Technician

You enter the exam room. Mrs. Avery’s eyes fill with tears as she places her dog Wrigley on the table. As a technician, you are a critical and integral part of the veterinary healthcare team and you are important to the client and the pet.

Practice Purpose: The Real Performance Measuring Stick

Have you ever returned home after a long day at the practice and wondered if you made a positive difference? How do you measure your own performance?

Dine In or Drive-Through? Explanation & Planning: Part 2

Zipper’s presurgical blood work reveals that because of his scrapping behavior, he has contracted feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). You discussed this possibility with Mrs. Kensington while developing a plan for treating Zipper’s abscess. With this new development, it is time once again to take out your communication tools to explain this concerning finding and to involve Mrs. Kensington in decisions about Zipper’s care.

Wellness Plans: An Introduction

“Wellness Plans” has become the buzz phrase for 2012, and many practices are scrambling to figure out how to get one in place for their clients as quickly as they can.

In-House Mark-Ups: Should You Be Pushing Overpriced Products?

The title of this article was the provocative question sent to me by the assistant editor of Exceptional Veterinary Team. The task was to respond in a way that helps you see through some of today’s economic gloom, specifically how we should be thinking about pricing in these challenging days.

When Should You Refer?

Are you concerned about the loss of income for your practice when you send one of your clients to a referral hospital?

Mechanics of Euthanasia

We can either do great good or cause great harm, depending on how well we communicate with clients about the euthanasia of a pet.

Turning Client Complaints into Opportunities

A satisfied client is the sustenance of our business. If you work in a service industry, as we do, you are bound to experience client complaints. So how do we handle an upset client and keep him? Especially when we know maintaining our client’s loyalty leads to greater profitability?

Editor's Letter

In our profession, we face difficult decisions every day. Some of them keep us up at night, tossing and turning at 3 am as we ponder what to do about the well-liked employee who isn’t performing up to par or whether or not to pursue that new job opportunity.

Tips for Communicating with Pet Owners About Euthanasia

Do explain death as is appropriate to age, and use appropriate language (eg, “will be dead” or “body will stop working and will be dead”). Don’t say “put to sleep,” especially in front of children. For more, see Mechanics of Euthanasia.

Time to Buy That New Toy?

Question: When should I buy new equipment? Is there a formula I can use to determine whether it makes financial sense for my practice?

How to Lead Your Team Successfully

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”
—Stephen Covey

Most people in leadership roles have knowledge of the concept of treating employees as we want them to treat our clients.

This approach has been shown in many other service industries to be wildly successful. Our team members are in a position that relentlessly demands kindness, patience, compassion, flexibility, and energy. In order to facilitate this level of performance, we must provide the same to our team.

All-in-One-Guide: Help Clients Ferret Out the Best Pet Insurance

Since Lassie became the dog covered by pet insurance in 1982, the industry has shown slow and steady growth.

5 Tips for Joining a Buying Group

Please click on the PDF icon to download your "5 Tips to Joining a Buying Group."

For more information on this topic, see In-House Mark-Ups: Should You be Pushing Overpriced Products?

Doing Performance Evaluations Differently

It’s that time of year again; your annual performance evaluation is scheduled for this afternoon. But something’s different this year. The anxiety is gone.

Discover Your Practice Purpose

Start the process of defining your practice purpose during an upcoming team meeting.

Script: Communicating Value to Veterinary Clients

Technicians give care, monitor care, and assist with the recorded events linked to care. They must constantly monitor and speak to the quality of services given. It is important that veterinary technicians and client service representatives also communicate the value of those services.

Understanding Your Pet’s Blood Work

Blood tests help veterinarians determine causes of illness accurately, safely, and quickly and let us monitor the progress of your pet’s medical treatments. To help you understand your pet’s test results, this guide explains common tests.

Introducing Our 2012 Advisory Board Members

Exceptional Veterinary Team is pleased to announce our 2012 advisory board members.

A Checklist for Job, Environment, and Organizational Fit

The Employee Engagement Diagnostic Model (EEDM) developed by organizational psychologist Lori Wieters provides a useful framework for assessing fit and engagement at work.

Referral Checklist

Don’t leave your referral policy up to chance. Use this comprehensive checklist to make certain your patients, clients, and veterinary hospital benefit the most from your referrals (or any decisions not to refer). For more informaton, please see When Should You Refer?

Sample Urinary Catheter Care Protocol

When developing and implementing a new protocol, first look at basic procedures and approaches that can be summarized. Use this handout to develop an urinalysis protocol. For more information, please see Protocol-Driven Medicine.

How to Build a Veterinary Medicine Protocol

When implementing a new protocol at your practice, follow these steps. For more information, see Protocol-Driven Medicine.

The Financial Side of New Technology: Does It Cost or Does It Pay?

Experience and anecdotal evidence tell me that at any given time, nearly every veterinary practice is contemplating a major purchase. Since myriad options compete for your hard-earned money, it’s smart to ask yourself, “Would this purchase be a good investment?”

Handling Convenience Euthanasia

All euthanasia is convenient; handling it is the issue.

As completely defined, convenience euthanasia (CE) is the humane killing of an animal that is no longer wanted alive for any reason by its owner, the owner’s agent, a regulatory agent, or agency.

This broader definition acknowledges that the “convenience” could be for the benefit any of a number of entities including humane death of the animal.

Dealing with Another Doctor’s Mistake: What to Say

It’s a situation we all struggle with. The frustrated new client is seeking a second opinion following unsatisfactory care at another clinic.