How veterinary clients are adjusting to COVID-19 protocols

To accomodate the need for social distancing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, veterinary practices have implemented drastic changes to their protocols. Avoiding physical contact with pet owners means offering strictly curbside service and telehealth appointments, and it goes without saying that veterinary clients have had to quickly adjust to major changes.

Emily Shiver, CVPM, CCFP, CVBL, practice manager at Cleveland Heights Animal Hospital in Lakeland, Florida, says that despite the expected stress associated with this frustrating situation, most clients seem to be adjusting well to the hospital's "new normal."

"Certainly there are times when [clients] might get a little stressed ... not everything is perfect and they have had to learn to adjust with us as we've come up with new processes and procedures to try to take care of them the best that we can and as efficiently as we can," she says. "But most of them have been pretty gracious in all of it."

In fact, Shiver says, there are a number of new protocols that she plans to continue beyond the pandemic, including offering curbside care for purchases, two-way texting with clients, emailing invoices and gathering a pet's history prior to the appointment. "And I'm sure we'll identify more as time goes on," Shiver says.

In this video, Shiver and her team members Jenn Crawford, BS, MS, and Katie Rice, CVJ, share more about how their clients are dealing with new protocols.