What we almost missed in wellness care

September 8, 2017

Brendan Howard, Business Channel Director

Brendan Howard oversees veterinary business, practice management and life-balance content for dvm360.com, dvm360 magazine, Firstline and Vetted, and plans the Practice Management track at all three Fetch dvm360 conferences.Brendan has proudly served under the Veterinary Economics and dvm360 banners for more than 10 years. Before that, he worked as a journalist, writer and editor at Entrepreneur magazine and a top filmed entertainment magazine in Southern California. Brendan received a Masters in English Literature from University of California, Riverside, in 1999.

We've been writing about wellness and preventive-care plans like crazy here for a while now. Here are a things we missed that we don't want you to miss.

Well, well, well ... is the veterinary world all about wellness, or is it just us?

Maybe it's us. (See a skeptic's guide to veterinary wellness plans or the comparison of current preventive-care plan options for evidence.)

All we know is, we missed a few cool, preventive-care-focused options out there in veterinary practice to help improve wellness compliance. So, here's the scoop on a few wellness features that companies are particularly proud of.

Heat maps-so hot right now

Wrapped up in a $159-per-month deal for better practice software metrics, Patterson Veterinary's VetSuccess program has heat-map-like tools that showcase both compliance with your preventive-care plan (if you've got one) and aspects of preventive care, like heartworm testing. If reminders and easy-to-read reports are what might turn you to forward booking, for instance, or more focus on lapsing clients, this kick in the pants might be worth it. If you're going to use the reports, that monthly cost could be paid for in a few appointments made or your attention on problem areas in your veterinary finances.

I want to start a wellness plan, but I've already got software!

You know there are a lot of companies out there helping with wellness plans, but, man, you already have practice software. Yup. Some companies like IDEXX have a separate service to integrate with practice software (like Petly Plans). And two practice software suites from Henry Schein-ImproMed and AVImark-sport features or modules to help set up and implement wellness plans. ImproMed has a wellness plan module that lets you more easily account for free basic exams in a premium preventive-care plan, using the strategy of getting pet owners in the door for free then seeing if they need anything extra. AVImark's wellness option, in particular, helps users point to different options for each part of a wellness plan (multiple options for the right choice for the right pet).

Are you well-suited for wellness care now, doc?