When it comes to fleas and ticks, clients will be motivated to buy preventives from you if you focus on convenience, cost, compliance and a select number of products.   

Fleas and ticks, like cockroaches, have been around much longer than pets and people. They don’t disappear or hunker down during public health crises. They do what fleas and ticks have always done: cause irritation, infection and even infectious diseases. Because of that, veterinarians planning their seasonal or year-round attack on fleas and ticks have […]

Clients will follow your lead if you show confidence in pet health insurance. Veterinary teams need to choose a couple of favorite companies and brush up on policy basics. Appointing a point person is a good idea.

Whether on an airplane, in a restaurant or at the front desk of a veterinary hospital, pet owners ask about pet health insurance. But of course, they usually ask about it too late — after a major medical or surgical expense. That’s because we, the veterinary profession and the decades-old insurance industry, have done a […]

Give yourself a well-deserved and well-justified break by assigning some of your tasks to people qualified to take them on. Everyone from your patients to your staff will benefit, and so will your clinic.

Twenty years ago, the KPMG megastudy on veterinary medicine noted: “The majority of animal care is still being delivered through a highly fragmented and inefficient system. This includes issues related to excess capacity, staff utilization and the use of capital resources.” The report went on to say, “There is some evidence that practices that utilize […]

It was 34 years ago that I received my DVM from the University of Illinois. As I look back to the end of my freshman year, my biggest panics were dealing with really challenging faculty members in virology and immunology and getting past the large animal anatomy final. Disruptions were limited to snow, rain, heat, […]

Cash is king whether it’s coming or going. You should explore all the ways to persevere and succeed during tough times, from negotiating with vendors and lenders to training and trusting your team.

We don’t claim to be economists and can’t begin to fully explain what causes a recession, but we’ve been impacted personally and professionally by a number of them and emerged reasonably unscathed each time. Historically, veterinary medicine has been recession-proof, one of the reasons it’s such an attractive space for investors. However, during the 2007-2009 […]

If you don’t use an online pharmacy, why not? Millennials and just about all other pet owners desire the convenience of home delivery. Start slow and the money will follow. 

Growing up in the shadow of New York City, I enjoyed the small-town feel without all the noise and people. From a local business standpoint, the milk was delivered, the dry cleaning was picked up and delivered, a fully cooked turkey was delivered, and prescriptions and other drugstore products were delivered. And then, most of […]

With little warning, the COVID-19 pandemic pummeled the veterinary industry and transformed patient care, client relations and staffing. Will we ever return to the “old normal,” or is more upheaval still to come?

Over the past few months — it feels like decades — the world of veterinary practice has been totally disrupted from the medical and business perspectives. Before February, many practicing veterinarians were convinced that corporate consolidators, online merchants, millennials or some other outside influence would be the source of the profession’s greatest upheaval ever seen. […]

Diagnosing and treating otitis can be a real pain if a client is non-compliant. Honest conversations and even the convenience of your online pharmacy can provide comfort, if not a cure, to both the pet owner and patient.

As frustrating as cancer, as challenging as kidney disease and sometimes as expensive as both, chronic otitis is debilitating to the pet suffering from it and to the pet owner looking for relief of both their pet and credit card. And as with so many of the conditions that veterinarians treat, success relies on an […]

Tough times need tough people. This is a great time for caution tempered with common sense. 

Listen to Podcasts Pandemics and Economics: Two Words Not Used in Veterinary School Pandemics & Economics: A Blip or a New Normal? The economic challenges, pandemic challenges and panic response have all come together to impact your veterinary practice. Fast and immediate action can help mollify the worst of things. Here are some actions you […]

As Brooke crossed the floor and headed up the stairs a few months ago, I was in a haze. I was awestruck that my daughter was about to receive her white coat, signifying her entry into the professional curriculum at the Carlsen College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University. When the college’s dean, Dr. […]