 Hospital Management Editor Mark Opperman is a certified veterinary practice manager and owner of VMC Inc., a veterinary consulting firm based in Evergreen Colo. Through his firm, he has consulted with more than 800 veterinary hospitals throughout North America, providing assistance in associate hiring, partnership formation, exit strategies, employee issues, profitability, efficiency, and more. He has lectured worldwide at meetings such as Fetch dvm360 conference (formerly CVC), the North American Veterinary Conference, the World Small Animal Veterinary Conference, the Denmark Annual Congress, and the London Veterinary Forum. Opperman founded the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association and served as president until 1993. Through his VMC School of Veterinary Practice Management, he has trained more than 250 practice managers.

Q. I'm the medical director of a newly formed emergency clinic, and the board is looking for a formula for my pay. What percentage of production would you recommend? 

 "You'd receive the same percentage of production as any doctor—18 percent to 23 percent," says 

 Hospital Management Editor Mark Opperman, CVPM, owner of VMC Inc. in Evergreen, Colo. "As medical director, you may be entitled to a percentage of the gross, too. Three percent to 4 percent of gross should be paid to management. And depending on what other managers are in the practice and what your job description is, you may be entitled to some or all of this percentage. You might also want to negotiate a guaranteed base salary." 

Practice Finances

Q. I'm the medical director of a newly formed emergency clinic, and the board is looking for a formula for my pay. What percentage of production would you recommend?

Pinning down percentages

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