You have heard it many times: The veterinary job market is tight, talented doctors, technicians, assistants and receptionists are impossible to find, and people don’t want to work. However, I don’t believe the situation is that tragic. Before you write a help-wanted ad, consider something else. Look at your current team and potential changes to your practice’s processes.
Customer Service Representatives
What do you demand of your CSRs? The receptionist welcomes clients and their pets, schedules appointments, answers questions and educates clients. Customer service representatives might also help with billing, checking in patients and communicating with pet owners after they depart.
Have you wondered which everyday CSR tasks you could automate or eliminate? Consider the following:
- New-client and new-patient forms: Is your receptionist copying information from a paper or electronic form into your practice management system? Automating the work saves time and reduces mistakes, especially when transferring data from handwritten forms.
- Cost estimates: Creating them from scratch is time-consuming. Consider designing surgery or wellness bundles so that the charges are easy to communicate.
- Appointments: Client portals can reduce phone calls and increase compliance. Many pet owners love the ability to book visits after hours.
- Documentation: Client portals also allow pet owners to check vaccination records and medical notes. This feature lessens calls and emails.
- Reminders: If your receptionist makes $20 an hour and spends 30 minutes a day calling 10 clients who will arrive the next day, wouldn’t 10 text messages be cheaper?
- Routine communication: Why do all your clients call in? Probably because you don’t offer another way for them to connect with your practice. Chat or text options will reduce the number of calls and encourage people to communicate electronically.
- Remote assistance: Your CSR can work from home if you have cloud-based software. Imagine conversations with potential clients without the background noise. This option might also be worth considering if your office space is limited.
- Technology: Check out the features in your practice management software. Does your team use the PIMS to its full potential? You might have tried a feature a few years ago and didn’t like it. If so, contact the vendor to learn more or have an employee research little-used capabilities. Practice management software evolves quickly, and updates roll out often.
- Mobile apps: Consider adding an app to support your CSR. For example, Otto offloads many tasks, such as scheduling, reminders, digital forms and deposits. The software can assist during and after appointments. Another option, Chckup, supports scheduling, client communication, loyalty programs and analytics. A third one, Weave, helps with online scheduling, reminders, reviews, analytics and more. Before you sign up for one, request a demonstration and ensure the app integrates with your PIMS.
Assistants and Technicians
Veterinary assistants are valuable team members you might assign to clean rooms, prepare treatment areas or restrain pets. They also possess laboratory skills and have basic knowledge of infectious diseases and so much more.
On the other hand, your credentialed technicians have completed advanced education, passed an exam and must earn continuing education credits to maintain their certification.
Do your credentialed technicians perform functions that veterinary assistants can do? In that case, you are overpaying for labor. Assign assistants the tasks they were trained to do and let the technician be the technician.
Veterinarians
Is your doctor performing tasks a credentialed technician or assistant can do? If the answer is yes, you’re paying extra for the labor. Check your state’s veterinary practice act to confirm what technicians and assistants can do legally.
One of the biggest time-consuming tasks for veterinarians is medical notes. On top of that, the doctor might need to complete them between appointments, which leaves staff and clients waiting. Those are expensive notes.
The solution is simple. Subscribe to one of the many veterinary-specific note takers, such as VetSkribe, HappyDoc, ScribbleVet and others. Test-drive one and then another, and stick with the product that works for you. Don’t forget to confirm its integration with your practice management software.
If you think you need an extra receptionist, assistant, technician or veterinarian, look at your processes before hiring one. Regularly review what you demand of each role. Brainstorm with your team how you and your practice can work smarter, not harder. Embracing technology and leveraging your skilled team can solve the feeling of being understaffed.