According to a 2023 Gallup poll, veterinarians scored 65% for honesty and ethical standards, down from 71% in 2006. They ranked second to nurses and above dentists, physicians and pharmacists. My question is, if only 65% of pet owners think our profession is honest and ethical, how can we regain the trust of the other third? It starts with understanding client perceptions.
My previous article [go.navc.com/surveys-TVB] explored surveying clients to understand their feelings about your services. In the same edition, Money Matters columnist Leslie A. Mamalis shared her perspective as a veterinary client [go.navc.com/valued-TVB].
Providing exceptional service that makes clients feel valued builds trust and rapport, allowing us to deliver the care we know each patient deserves.
Something to Complain About
List all the small things that upset your clients. Their concerns might seem insignificant to us, but they are a big deal to some pet owners. Those irritants devalue the client experience and reduce trust in our services. Hopefully, your list is short, but here’s one I think should be at the top of your list: junk fees.
Examples include:
- Biohazard waste and sharps disposal fees
- Dispensing and injection fees
- Credit card merchant fees
- Pet insurance processing fees
I’m not debunking the importance of your veterinary practice recovering such costs, but many clients perceive tacked-on fees as you nickel-and-diming them for every little service. Since their perception is their reality, let’s fix the problem.
Be a Cut Above
Biomedical hazard fees are an overhead expense. They cover the cost of discarding used syringes and needles, scalpel blades, surgical needles, and patient tissue samples.
Overhead expenses are ongoing operating costs not directly related to producing a service. Other examples include liability insurance, rent, utilities and office supplies.
If your practice is average, biohazard fees account for less than 0.5% of your yearly revenue. Instead of assessing the fee separately and blatantly displaying it on the invoice, build it into your service pricing model to cover the additional cost.
A service pricing model considers all operational expenses, including payroll, to determine what you charge clients. A portion of your prices is allocated to practice profitability.
Remove biohazard fees from your invoice line items.
Employ Your PIMS
Your practice should recover the expense of dispensing medications — the label, pill vial and labor associated with filling a prescription.
My solution is to include the appropriate dispensing cost when entering each drug into your computer. Most practice management information systems can automatically build the charge into an item’s price, eliminating the invoice line item. If your PIMS doesn’t do it routinely, call the provider to learn how to set up the feature.
Never let clients see your medication dispensing fee.
The Pain Is Skin Deep
Injection fees cover what you need to administer drugs, such as the syringe, needle and professional experience. As the late Mark Opperman always said: “We undervalue ourselves as professionals. Injecting and administering the medication is a professional service worthy of a charge.”
You should attach the injection fee to the medication price in your computer system. Don’t show it as an additional invoice charge.
A Plastic Problem
The average merchant credit card expense ranges from 3% to 4%. Just because retailers in your town charge a credit card fee doesn’t mean you have to. Like biohazard fees, merchant fees are an overhead expense veterinary practices incur when running a business. Build them into your pricing model and remove the line item from invoices.
A Small Favor
Pet insurance processing fees are a new development that copies what some are doing in the human medicine field. It’s another example of clients thinking you are taking advantage of them.
Most pet insurance policyholders, not the clinic, submit reimbursement claims to the company. Technology is your friend. Many insurers now integrate with clinic computer systems and receive the needed information with the push of a button.
Don’t charge to assist with an insurance claim. Instead, ensure your service pricing covers the concierge experience your practice strives to deliver.
A Retention Strategy
While I covered only a few junk fees, your practice might have more. Stop the madness. Take the time to evaluate the relevance of such charges and how they affect your clients’ trust.
Rather than charge an extra fee as part of every service you deliver and then list each on the invoice, giving pet owners something to complain about, simply cover the expense in your service prices. Do you want to keep those clients or send them to a competitor?
Now is the time to restore the value of an exceptional client experience. Your team members shouldn’t have to defend your prices. You want them to brag about everything your services include. When your employees love what they do, they will do it well, clients will feel the authenticity, and your practice’s reputation will skyrocket throughout the community.
PRICE HIKES
According to a Veterinary Hospital Managers Association survey, 43% of respondents expected to raise their service fees just one time in 2024. Thirty-five percent said they would do it twice.