Business

Everyone knows that veterinary practices are busy places! There is always something going on - the phone is ringing, clients are coming in the door, and beloved pets need our help. The life of a veterinary healthcare team member is hectic.

Energy to most of us is something that turns lights on and off and runs our cars. We don't realize we are made of energy, and that we interact with other humans and animals on an instinctive, energetic basis. Having an awareness of how we affect others allows us to be better colleagues, practitioners and care givers.

In the mid 1970's, the National economy started to slow down while the number of veterinarians continued to increase. Concerns were expressed that too many veterinarians would be produced by the year 2000. In the late 1970's and 1980's some practices experienced reduced numbers of clients and no-growth or slow growth gross incomes resulting in declining net incomes.

Acute abdominal pain is often associated with a variety of disorders in small animals. Abdominal pain can be the result of many different underlying diseases processes, many of which can be life threatening. Clinical signs can range from abdominal distension, prayer-type postures, vomiting and diarrhea, to more serious findings such as collapse, hypovolemic shock, hypothermia, and difficulty breathing. Acute abdominal pain thus requires rapid and efficient diagnostic evaluation with proper treatment to facilitate patient survival.

A buy-sell agreement or shareholder's agreement or operating agreement is a written statement of plans about how owners can slow down or get out of the practice at a set time or occurrence. It is the shareholder's agreement for a corporation or an operating agreement for an LLC.

We spend too much time "in" the business and not enough "on" the business.

Small changes in how you practice, or in how you run your business, can have a dramatic impact on your earnings over a lifetime and in keeping you and the profession economically strong.

As veterinary professionals, we have been trained to create a practice environment that focuses on maintaining cleanliness and reducing disease transmission. While these are vital to the health of our staff and patients, we must also consider other aspects of healing. The emotional and energetic atmosphere our clients, staff and patients are exposed to does influence their physical, mental and behavioral well being. It is our obligation to provide a setting conducive to improving staff work life and patient health.

There are so many calculations to be made during a typical day in a veterinary practice - antibiotic doses, fluid flow rates, anaesthetic and analgesic doses. Every time someone makes a calculation there is a chance for a mistake. Unfortunately, even a small miscalculation can spell disaster for an animal patient.

A lower risk practice purchase means the buyer and seller both win and the practice sells. It may be obvious that win-win is best, but sales are made that are not win-win or low risk. The practice sale may be to an independent third party or to an inside person, usually an associate doctor.

Buying or selling a veterinary practice generally is a long and arduous process. Preparation and a good lawyer are key to smoothing the bumps along the way.

Humans and animals have the instinctive ability to energetically interact with everything around them. As positive or negative energies interact with our energy fields, we are physically and emotionally affected. When the surroundings are stressful, this energy can cause anxiety, weaken the immune system and literally create negative situations for the patient. Procedures can be more difficult, untoward reactions can occur, and healing can be interrupted because of the energy of the people and surroundings. It is imperative that we keep gossip, anger, and drama out of the practice.

The internal controls of a veterinary practice is often overlooked by owners, and the ramifications of this can be financially catastrophic.

Our profession has had its ups and downs over the years. We have seen periods of perceived shortages and excesses of practicing veterinarians. We have moved from a profession of mostly male, large animal practitioners to one of mostly female, companion animal practitioners. The human-animal bond has been better understood and developed so that our pets have moved from the barn in the 1950's into our bed by the 1990's.

When practicing from the perspective of compassionate care, veterinarians and their health care teams dedicate themselves to always advocating for what is best for the pet - advocating on behalf of a being that cannot advocate for itself. By advocating for what is best for the pet, we are actually advocating on behalf of the Family-Pet Bond. Veterinary health care providers make choices daily about the level of care they provide. Every day you have the opportunity to choose compassionate care.

The time for a practice sale depends on the following items: timing, personal health, interest in work, motivation for work, age, stress, funds, alternative investments and alternative activities. Some say you need 15-20 times your current earnings in investment funds for retirement.

Creating a compassionate care clinic culture means paying attention to the team dynamics. It means accepting responsibility to be as effective a team member as possible. Here are some ideas for making a difference on your practice team.

Co-ownership issues often arise when veterinary practitioners enter into a partnership with other owners, or when two or more associates jointly venture into practice acquisition. In most aspects co-ownership of a veterinary practice is akin to marriage, and it is vitally important to agree on the principal terms governing the relationship before getting hitched.

Like many small businesses, veterinary practices across the country are seeing a lot of the same issues.

Non-DVM practice ownership has long been the standard in most states. This is because the practice acts require it in slightly more than half the states. The remainder of the states may or may not allow non-veterinary ownership of a veterinary practice, but do not directly address the issue in their practice acts.

Capnographs are used to measure ETCO2. Most capnographs use infrared light absorption to measure CO2 levels. Capnographs allow for continuous monitoring of the patients CO2 levels. ETCO2 is reflective of the patients PaCO2 usually within a 5mmHg gradient, this gradient can be affected by pulmonary perfusion.

The old gray Mac, she ain't what she used to be.

How can we convert price shoppers into clients?

Idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is defined as gastrointestinal signs (vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea) greater than 3 weeks duration, with incomplete response to dietary trials and anthelmintics, biopsy findings of mucosal inflammation, and clinical response to immunomodulatory therapies.

Blood gas analysis provides information about respiratory function and acid/base status. This information is vital in determining and monitoring treatment of patients with primary or secondary respiratory disease and/or metabolic disturbances. Blood gas (BG) can be assessed on arterial (ABG) or venous (VBG) samples, although oxygenation assessment is made on arterial blood only.

Veterinarians are faced daily with the therapeutic challenge of treating species and conditions for which no approved drug exists. Other challenges include the differing needs of patients that have species-specific requirements, as well as individual needs for palatability and formulation.

Canine Parvovirus (CPV) is a family of viruses that cause vomiting, hemorrhagic diarrhea, and leukopenia. The virus can infect dogs of any age but, because of effective client education and early, aggressive vaccination protocols, is commonly noted in dogs less than 1 year of age.

Ask Shawn: A better way to pass the torch between shifts

The University of Tennessee CVM experiments with a new student resource.

This handy form helps team members review patient records before appointments.