Practice Management

Conversations may stray more when you're not totally focused.

It's easy to overlook the problems that come with making clients wait. We think, "Hey, it comes with the territory." We make excuses. And we hedge our bets, knowing most clients only grow dissatisfied when they wait more than 30 minutes. But that approach won't wow clients. In fact, even a short wait may leave clients disgruntled. So it's an issue you should aim to manage.

I do primarily small animal ambulatory work in the Midwest. I'm new to equine practice and trying to get a grasp on fees. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the charges I've seen in our area. Help!

Do you give this critical player the respect and responsibility she deserves?

Use these tips to stay sunny even when it seems those rain clouds will never move on.

I'm having trouble with staff turnover. I train and reward employees, but they aren't sticking around. Any ideas?

Higher percentages of gross income for any line-item expense should immediately drive management's closer inspection.

Clashing practitioners who stay together too long compromise toward a central level of mediocrity.

Learn the potential legal ramifications of terminating an employee.

Every member of your practice team can help increase security.

Is your practice losing ground compared to its past performance? If so, it's not necessarily cause for panic. Often you can get back on track by making some simple changes. To get started, dot the i's and cross the t's in these five areas:

The Veterinary Hospital in Eugene, Ore., sets daily production goals. When the hospital achieves the daily goal five times, they hire a massage therapist to come into the hospital and give everyone a professional pat on the back.

As always, we need to communicate as thoroughly as possible. Tunnel vision is a trap we as practitioners must avoid.

Employee satisfaction is the No. 1 reason people remain loyal to their employers.

Profitability and quality are not mutually exclusive, but they do go together.

How do you know whether a newly hired team member is right for his or her job and, equally important, right for your practice? Many practice owners evaluate a new hire's job performance during a probationary period, which can last from 30 to 90 days.

The biggest share of practice advertising dollars is spent on Yellow Pages ads. The following are practical guidelines to help you think through your Yellow Pages strategy, improve your ad's efficacy and reduce costs.

Use high-quality medicine, strong communication skills, and both internal and external marketing to create clients who act as advocates for the practice.

With a bit of tape and twine, most of you can fix almost anything. Of course, people and finances demand different tools. But they're not that much harder to master.

Aanet Sizemore waits in the back for Carrie to come out of the room. Carrie is writing in all the particulars about Caleb, a forlorn looking Great Dane with chronic vomiting and persistent elevated white counts. Janet has seen Caleb in the past for this and an assortment of other maladies but has been able to totally stop the irregular vomiting.

There are two things every employee wants to know ...

It is long past time to modify our practices to fit the times and increase the quality of relations between veterinarians and their indispensable support staff. Why are we so quick to remodel our hospitals, run to buy ultrasound or digital X-ray equipment yet so slow to invest in our staff?

Acute onsets of uncomplicated bacterial UTIs often "respond" to empirical antimicrobials.

We assume that data passed down from academia into the practitioner's environment is correct.

Chances are you're already seeing the effects of pet obesity manifested in diseases like diabetes and osteoarthritis. And obesity-related illnesses won't start decreasing anytime soon.

Data shows that if your clients arrive during a busy time, their average wait for check-in and check-out can hit 21 to 29 minutes during a 42- to 49-minute visit. That's almost half their time at the practice.

Taking the next big step in practice? Whether you're adding a doctor to the team, making the jump to partner, or taking on a remodeling or building project, we've got the right advice.

When you consider the cost of living in your area, you get a clearer picture of what you need to pay to attract and keep strong team members.