Business

Formal reprimand, suspension, dismissal all appropriate at times

Mixed animal practitioners caught on the 'horns of dilemma'

Learn how to make lemonade out of life's lemons

Imagine yourself on a long trip. For the most part, traffic has been rolling along at 70 miles an hour on a highway with a 65-mile speed limit. You are a quarter mile behind the car ahead of you as you enter an area with a reduced speed 50 miles per hour sign, and you see a state highway patrol car just ahead with its radar pointed directly at you.

While clients offer untold excuses as to why they fail to comply with heartworm recommendations and senior screenings, the blame sometimes belongs to the one giving - or not giving - the recommendation.

DVM Newsmagazine

Soon-to-be-moms, nursing moms, and toddlers are a part of practice now more than ever. And as an ever-increasing number of female veterinarians seek employment, and eventually ownership, women's needs will influence facility design even more.

Innovative space-saving solutions, a flawless floor plan, and lots of love went into designing the 1,800-square-foot Landen-Maineville Animal Hospital.

Most veterinary practices don't measure client compliance. Instead, a whopping 83 percent of compliance estimates are based largely on feel and, consequently, overestimated.

Keep your staff current with new procedures, existing protocols

Dynamic evaluation of operation can be enough to ignite change

Pay close attention to deadlines, dates and expirations

The time has come the Walrus said to speak of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax and other inconsequential things.

AAHA study proof positive that practitioners too passive, optimistic about client compliance

Take five minutes to quiz your budget acumen

Knowing over-the-phone sales tactics can help you weed out helpful calls from time-wasters

When Dr. Dermot Jevens, Dipl. ACVS, moved from Pittsburgh to Greenville, S.C., in 1997, he decided he needed to get to know the area before building a hospital. So he leased space for his specialty practice from an emergency clinic. Animal Emergency Clinic (AEC), owned by 37 shareholders, welcomed Dr. Jevens and Upstate Veterinary Specialists (UVS) into the AEC facility.

Five years ago Dr. Neil Shaw and his 14 associates worked from a 1,500-square-foot facility. They had so little exam space they were forced to consult with clients over a picnic table or across the seat of a client's car. Dr. Shaw knew he needed more room, so he built an 11,575-square-foot facility to house 75 staff members in 1999-a facility that won a 2000 Merit Award from Veterinary Economics.

If you think it takes $50,000 to update your facility, think again. We've got project ideas for limited budgets, from free to $6,000. Just check out this list:

Peer review system could help stymie legal actions; get involved

Port Richey, Fla.-Dr. Bob Hase trusted he was current with his taxes, certain he paid on time, every time for purchases in his clinic.

Qualified plans simple to administer; offer benefits to employees, owners

The initial two articles in this series on associate employment contracts dealt primarily with legal details of the contract; contract periods, renewal provisions and other esoteric elements that are commonly ignored when a new associate is considering a job offer.

Why is it that a fat chance is a much smaller chance than a slim chance? Huh?

Six animal management systems work together to drive performance

Spreading out single appointment improves diagnostics, revenue

Dr. Steven G. Paul had owned three practices before he built his fourth. And while he had commissioned work on his previous facilities, Wiles Road Animal Hospital in Coral Springs, Fla., is the first practice he has built from the ground up.

Clients seeking 'special privileges' can suck time, money, energy from practice

Successful practices and practitioners are alive; they vibrate with positive energy and enthusiasm.

A Chambord martini is made by combining 2.5 ounces of vodka with a half-ounce of Chambord liqueur, shaken with ice and poured off the ice.