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Either because of an oversight or discomfort, many hospital websites say nothing about end-of-life services. Your clients deserve better.

Like many people now, thanks to COVID, my basement has become my gym. During morning workouts, I listen to the free version of Spotify and therefore get the pleasure of hearing repeated advertisements. One I hear constantly makes sly reference to hygiene products by singing, “Don’t just wipe, use down-there care.” We know what “down-there […]

Videoconferencing has been associated with an uptick in discriminatory and marginalizing behaviors.

A colleague instant-messaged me a few months ago to ask for advice. She shared that she was trying to renegotiate hotel contracts as her organization was moving to virtual meetings due to COVID-19 restrictions. Before the pandemic, most of her day-to-day work involved emails and phone calls. Once COVID-19 struck and the world embraced or […]

When was the last time you updated your client information sheet? Put it online, and ask the right questions.

Remember those old-school client registration forms? You know, the ones on a clipboard that we gave to clients, but only until the pandemic emerged, at which point we either created digital versions or disinfected the clipboards after use? Even before curbside care became normal, our client registration forms needed an overhaul. When COVID-19 hit, many […]

Because of our desire for success and to be productive, many of us don’t really rest.

If we received a dollar every time someone (ourselves included) answered the questions “How’s it going?” and “How are you doing?” with the response “I’m really busy,” we would be kept perpetually busy counting our riches. We’ve often been curious about that standard response and wondered why “busy” became such a knee-jerk reply. We’ve also […]

Whether it’s sports, painting or something else, engaging in an expansive activity will lead you to a more balanced, centered and sane life.

Some of our previous articles noted the benefits of meditation, one of the best ways of opening ourselves up to experience the fullness of who and what we are. If you’re looking to experience more flow, we suspect that meditation is one of the single most effective methods of creating that outcome. But just because […]

The veterinary world is getting more complicated. It’s time to embrace change for the good of the profession, clients and patients.

If you’ve been around long enough, you’ll remember these two reports: Pew Research Center’s “Future Directions for Veterinary Medicine” (1989) and KPMG’s “The Current and Future Market for Veterinarians and Veterinary Medical Services in the U.S.” (1999). Both reports helped explain what was going on in the veterinary profession then and, more importantly, what the […]

Working alongside a spouse isn’t always wedded bliss, especially when one is a veterinarian and the other an administrator.

Dr. Jill and her husband, Jack, launched Happy Critters Animal Clinic right after getting married. Because money was in short supply, Jack filled in as manager. What was supposed to be a short-term part-time solution became a long-term full-time job. A decade later, Jack and Dr. Jill are not doing well as a couple and […]

Marina Animal Clinic is a high-volume, no-appointment-necessary urban hospital that attracts a broad range of clients and many sad cases. The practice manager’s steady hand keeps the staff focused.

A friend of mine once observed, “Marina’s like a MASH unit for vets, isn’t it?” There’s truth in that. A typical day might, and recently did, go like this: Two women on a road trip across Oklahoma watch in horror as a 75-pound pit bull mix is tossed off a highway overpass. They gather him […]

Facebook, Google, Instagram and even business review platforms can streamline the booking process and free up your staff.

Your clinic’s phone rings again. Email notifications pop up. The Messenger tab flashes. You haven’t checked your app dashboard yet. Everybody wants an appointment. You throw back coffee, take a deep breath and respond to clients by flipping back and forth on the appointment calendar, offering time slots and sending confirmations. Client A responds to […]

Whatever you do, just don’t compare 2020 to other years.

If 2020 was a patient, I suspect most of us would have elected humane euthanasia sometime around May. That would have been after the wildfires in Australia, the U.S. drone strike on an Iranian general, the impeachment and acquittal of Donald Trump, the death of Kobe Bryant, the U.K.’s departure from the European Union, a […]