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Practice Ownership
Hands-on Handoffs
Make sure your replacement’s training sessions cover at least the basics of all aspects of your job.
Practice Management
Auditioning for a Job
A working interview can help determine whether a veterinarian or technician’s knowledge and skills are commensurate with their expressed qualifications.
Practice Management
A Command Performance
Before presenting a PIP, spend time developing SMART goals for the employee.
Practice Management
Crunch Time
At what point does a practice manager’s backup role detract from the business?
Practice Management
A Lasting Impression
A manager who delegates properly will create a veterinary team that performs autonomously and confidently.
Practice Management
When Your Boss Is the Problem
Conflict with a practice owner can arise from insecurity, personality differences or unapologetic callousness. A manager who understands the root cause can help bring harmony to the clinic.
Practice Management
The Worst and Best of Times
Practices that conserve cash, champion job security and nurture clients will be ready to capitalize on an economic resurgence. When leadership takes care of the team, the team takes care of the business.
Practice Management
We Will Bounce Back
COVID-19 tested the ability of practice leaders to adapt to change. The profession will emerge better equipped to tackle the next challenge with optimism and grace.
Personal Wellness
The Forgotten Team Member
Outnumbered and full of responsibility, practice managers aren’t immune to the personal struggles afflicting doctors and staff. Solutions are within reach.
Practice Management
You Bring Value to a Practice
Hospital managers have a huge say in a clinic’s financial course and whether the owner achieves an ideal selling price.
Practice Management
What’s your game plan?
You can’t rely on a stroke of luck to get your practice to the next level. Strategic planning and written goals are essential.
Patient Care
Improve the feline experience
Devoting a day to cats and practicing low-stress handling techniques all the time will elevate wellness care in the mind of pet owners and improve veterinary medical care.
Client Communication
How to Avoid a Vaccination Confrontation
You might not be able to change the beliefs of anti-vaxxers, but you can communicate the veterinary perspective.
Practice Management
How to support your doctors
Managers should take the lead in finding ways to pay veterinarians more and get them additional free time. Their well-being is at stake.
Staff Training
Stop-gap measures
Your appointment calendar should be teeming with patients but not so crammed that you regularly turn away or turn off clients.
Human Resources
Help Is on the Way
From employee assistance programs to well-being seminars, the practice manager has a number of options for addressing a team member’s actual or potential personal crises.
Personal/Professional Development
Family First
The logistics surrounding a pregnant and postpartum employee need to be addressed and accommodated.
Practice Management
From manager to momager
How becoming a mother changed my perspective on clients, co-workers and protocol.
Client Communication
Resolve to solve
Mastering effective conflict resolution is a lifelong process, one continually fine-tuned through each experience and inevitable misstep.
Human Resources
Filter Your Applicant Pool
Working in an animal hospital seems enticing to typical pet lovers until they discover that the job is as much about customer service as patient care.
Practice Management
Get the best out of your team
Instead of a traditional top-down approach during which the employee suffers through a list of all the things he failed at throughout the past year as he waits to hear if he got a pay raise, consider letting the employee lead.
Human Resources
A better way to budget bonuses
When times are good, we all prosper. When times are hard, we can weather the storm together.
Practice Management
Turn Hardship Into Fellowship
Start a charity or work closely with one to ensure that the pets of a financially challenged client get the care they need.
Practice Management
How to Launch and Profit From a Rewards Program
Properly managed incentives can boost client loyalty, improve patient health and lift the bottom line over the long term.