Practice Management

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Our 24-hour clinic has a main office, three satellite facilities, 14 veterinarians, and 80-plus team members, so staff communication is always a challenge. In addition to a weekly newsletter, we have monthly meetings for each department and a monthly staff meeting for everyone.

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If employees can handle various tasks, then you can shift people in and out of jobs as needed-without calling in temporary workers, running up overtime costs, or stinting on client services.

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I'm a house call veterinarian who'd like to continue to perform surgeries and take radiographs in order to maintain my skills. What's the appropriate amount of compensation for a veterinarian who allows me to use his or her hospital for these purposes?

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A team member quit recently. She gave two weeks' notice but didn't fully complete it and was supposed to train someone to take over her job duties but didn't. After being a valued team member for so long, why did she choose to leave on a sour note?

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Should we require our associate veterinarians to own their own vehicles? We're finding that they don't take care of the practice-owned trucks. What are the ramifications of making this change, and what are other practices doing?

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Dr. Charles Pullen was ectstatic when he learned his Animal Medical & Surgical Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., was the 2008 Hospital of the Year.

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Atlanta - If this southern metropolis keeps growing the way it has the last few years, "we'll soon be calling Chattanooga a suburb," says veterinarian Nicholas W. Petty, who has practiced in the Buckhead area near downtown Atlanta since 1976.

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Q. We employ a bookkeeper, a head technician, and an inventory manager who all share some of the management duties at my practice. I perform about four days' worth of management tasks a month. My partner and I are looking at a tiered approach to compensation-management will be compensated at 3 percent to 4 percent of gross. What goes into this figure?

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If you practice with partners, your buy-sell agreement is an important way to develop a plan to purchase an owner's interest under a variety of circumstances and to protect your own interest in those same circumstances-one of which is the death of a partner.