Practice Management

About the middle of the last century, shortly after the second consecutive war that was designed to prevent all future wars, the brain trusts of the universities of our land decided to add a hefty scoop of veterinary colleges to their intellectual diets.

Many definitions are available. However, ethical issues deal with principles concerning:

I suppose, looking through my retrospectoscope, that there was never a time in our profession, when medical expertise alone, made less of an impact, and communication skills made more of a difference between economic success and just barely surviving in practice.

The tension at the office was palpable. People spoke in short, terse sentences. Small talk was absent. Doors and drawers were closed with a bit too much force. There was no laughter at all.

How do your clients respond when you and your staff have gone the extra mile to provide care for their beloved animal companions?

As a youngster, clichés seemed so boring. But guess what? They're back in style and they can help to sharpen our focus.

You know; work 52 hours a week because you just can't find an associate willing to come to work for you for less than you are taking home yourself.

So you want a raise, a vacation, a smile; well, here is what the boss wants: good employees and team members.

To show staff members how much they earn each year--not just in salary, but in benefits, too--give them a total compensation statement. (PDF)

Dr. Karen Overall shows how to effectively use support staff to oversee behavior counseling within a practice.

"Oh, by the way. One of the drug companies is arranging for one of their veterinarians to come in and evaluate our mastitis problems. I think he is supposed to be here on Friday."

Sarah, a certified veterinary technician, enters the room to a hackled and uninterrupted display of aggression.

In ancient China, a favorite form of slow execution was called "the death of a thousand cuts."

Compassionate care in the veterinary hospital setting would seem to be a given fact of everyday operations.

Have you ever been bamboozled by an embezzler? Dr. Alice Villalobos of Hermosa Beach, Calif., planted the thought in the minds of about 75 practitioners and practice managers during a management conference hosted by the American Animal Hospital Association in Boston.

"Just the facts, just give us the facts." That is my best recollection of one of the favorite phrases of Sergeant Joe Friday, on the TV series "Dragnet". I am not showing my age too much, am I? Anyway, there are many times in dairy practice when we really need facts to back up the suggestions we give to our clients.

Ask any number of our colleagues to tell us the most challenging part of their practices.

Many dairy veterinarians benefit by being skilled at training lay people to do appropriate tasks. This is true for in-house practice procedures, and also for things done by lay people on client farms.

Handling stress is difficult for anyone. But as veterinary students or recent graduates, the mounting demands of disgesting and understanding volumes of medical facts, finding a job or internship, managing finances and keeping viable relatioinships, are enough to make anyone boil over once in awhile.

Las Vegas-If you ask Dr. Paul Hobson, setting up a simple intranet can save you and your staff the most precious commodity of all - time.

Remember the marketing principle that 20 percent of clients make up 80 percent of your revenue

DVM Newsmagazine knows that eating right is never easy for anyone -- especially if you?re a pet owner with a dog or cat suffering from renal disease.

Architect hands down hard lessons in building veterinary practices from the ground up

"Most dairy producers tend to fall into one of three categories; those who are interested in maximizing profit, those who are interested in achieving excellence, and those who are pursuing a way of life."

I find myself reluctant to do performance reviews, and feel almost apologetic to employees when I schedule them. Perhaps it is the formality involved, or the fear of criticism that makes performance reviews take on an atmosphere of tension.

Fee setting in veterinary medicine is chaos personified. For lack of a better term, I call it transition theory.

Fort Collins, Colo.-Colorado State University (CSU) has taken an innovative step in handling euthanasia. In fact, the Argus Institute for Families and Veterinary Medicine has taken the study of facilitating euthanasia and grief to a whole new level.

Equine wound care has often been based upon the premise of keeping the wound clean and dry, requiring frequent bandage changes