Business

You're a dedicated doctor. You spent eight years preparing for and enduring veterinary medical school. For the past six years as an associate, you've lived your dream.

How many hours should I schedule for my receptionists in relation to the number of veterinarians on staff?

Barton Heights Veterinary Hospital saves time and money by using a simple design for informational letters on such topics as flea and tick products or Pet Dental Health Month. The practice team uses a copy center to reproduce and tri-fold the letters on colored paper, says practice manager Lynette Ott. The single, tri-folded sheets don't need envelopes and can be mailed without taping or stapling, saving the practice time, labor, and money, she says. She offers these other simple tips.

Thinking of getting outside help to address your current challenge? A consultant can improve efficiency, organization, and practice profits. But to get the most for your money, you must find the right match by asking these four important questions.

Women now buy half of all practices sold in some parts of the country, and prospective women buyers are on the rapid rise nationwide. The Northeast, mid-Atlantic and the Southeast contain the largest concentration of female buyers, according to brokerage statistics, and national trends have begun to mirror the general doctor population, too.

What should I say when clients answer their cell phones during their pets' exams? I think they'd be irritated if I stopped exams to take personal calls.

In their new book, Trading Up: The New American Luxury (Portfolio, 2003), Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske found that today's consumer is willing to spend more, or trade up, for goods and services with higher perceived quality levels.

Most part-time employees don't qualify for health insurance, retirement, or other employee benefits. And you must offer fair and equivalent benefits to all team members, regardless of whether they're a new hire or a 15-year veteran at your reception desk. If you don't, you're asking for a discrimination case.

The doctors spent years gathering recommendations from staff members and clients and noting desirable details in other veterinary and human hospitals. Yet the key reason for building a new facility was simply the need for more space, says Dr. Thomas Lassiter, hospital director and co-owner of Arboretum View Animal Hospital in Downers Grove, Ill.

Do you back up your QuickBooks file regularly? If not, you risk losing your data. Follow these tips to make sure your information is there when you need it.

My treatment area is on the small side, and I wish I could give myself more space to work. Is there a better way to arrange my equipment and supplies so I'm not tripping over everything?

My partner recently received information about her Social Security benefits. Should I have received a statement too?

Speculation, rumor, and stubbornness abound regarding such issues as paying employees for overtime and granting maternity leave.

An automated system can help doctors offer more-consistent, better care to more patients

We place clear laminate sheets over our radiographs, so we can point out to clients what we are talking about without actually marking on the radiograph.

Ignoring staff friction can leave you low on morale and maybe short of help.

CLEVELAND-Almost half of women associates surveyed cite an interest in practice ownership/partnership despite speculative fear that the next generation will avoid the management headaches.

If any of these phrases pop up when you're discussing the possibility of an employee working part time, beware. Part-time status won't solve anything if your employee's saying ...

The IRS has the power to recharacterize a related-party transaction.

The Internet's an invaluable tool, but it also can pose a threat to your practice by leaking proprietary information and by opening your system to hackers and viruses, says Dr. Stephanie Slahor, JD, Ph.D. The key to protecting your practice: Make sure team members don't let sensitive information out via message boards, mass mailings, file transfer protocol sites, or chat rooms, she says. The safest bet? If it's confidential, don't say it online!

Hospital tours are a great way to attract new clients and cement your bond with existing ones. "We like to take the mystery away," says Dr. Lisa Barlow of Centennial Valley Animal Hospital PC in Louisville, Colo. "We think hospital tours help clients feel better about leaving their pets here."

The doctors at Bowman Animal Hospital and Cat Clinic, Inc. in Raleigh, N.C., see an average of four to five behavioral consultations per month, says Monica Dixon Perry, CVPM, the practice?s hospital administrator. Of these behavioral consults, the vast majority lead to diagnostic testing to determine whether there are any underlying medical reasons for the behavioral issue, says Audra Alley, DVM, CVA. "If a cat or a dog is urinating abnormally, we start with a urinalysis to determine whether there are any abnormalities. If the results of the urinalysis are positive, we treat the medical problems first and then re-evaluate the behavior," Dr. Alley says.

Value statements are tools you can use to communicate the value of your services to clients and to their pets.

The owners say they'd be happy to live in their new equine practice. Here's how they achieved this level of comfort.

Veterinarians are more often than not in competition for a handful of qualified and registered technicians.

The value of good will is purely a function of what the buyer is willing to pay and what the seller is willing to accept.

Every veterinary practice must continue to capitalize the costs of acquiring intangible business assets.

Maximizing profit means stripping the practice of capital by a variety of means...

Organizational procedures can help a practice deliver consistent, quality care.

In recent articles I have talked about better record keeping and how to write a job description; both of these articles have one thing in common they require the entire team to be involved. So how do you motivate and keep the team going in the forward direction?