After decades of practicing traditional small animal medicine, Dr. Dawn Filos needed a change. She felt stressed and burned out, and although she loved healing patients, she wasn’t sure she could continue, given the situation. However, she then made a U-turn that changed her life for the better. Dr. Filos left her brick-and-mortar office to open Bucks Mercer Mobile Vet. She quickly found less pressure in the homes of New Jersey and Pennsylvania pet owners.
“Now, I could control the number of hours I worked, and it just seemed that everyone was happier — the pet parent, the pet and me,” she said. “I was also in a position to select clients, weeding out the toxic clients who contributed to my burnout. It was a question of quality versus quantity. I would see less patients but be able to give them better, focused care without being interrupted by phone calls, emergencies and other drama that comes along with working in a multidoctor practice in a brick-and-mortar setting.”
Her situation isn’t unique, and it’s one reason that mobile veterinarians are becoming a practical and efficient option for pet owners. The business model also makes sense for the veterinarians. After all, they can:
- Set their own schedule to improve their work-life balance.
- Spend more time with patients.
- Avoid rent, utilities and other traditional expenses.
Delivering Convenience
It’s no wonder that published reports list nearly 30,000 mobile veterinarians in the United States. Some of them work for brick-and-mortar clinics that expanded into offering in-home visits.
“As the demand for convenience in veterinary care grows, having a mobile option can set a practice apart from competitors,” said Dr. Bethany Hsia, who has practiced for over 14 years.
She worked for two clinics before becoming a mobile practitioner and a co-founder of CodaPet, a nationwide network of veterinarians providing in-home euthanasia.
“Today’s consumer expects convenience — food delivery services, e-commerce, et cetera — to come directly to their home,” Dr. Hsia said. “It positions the veterinarian as adaptable and responsive to client needs.”
Dr. Alicia Moon, who owns Moon Mobile Veterinary Service in Loganville, Georgia, was motivated to transition from a brick-and-mortar clinic to a practice on wheels due to the benefits she heard about from others who made the switch.
“Most importantly, it gave me the freedom to make my own schedule and have some time outside of four exam walls, typically with no windows,” she said.
Dr. Abbi Russell, who owns Emerald Coast Mobile Vet in Panama City, Florida, said the biggest motivator in her switch was seeing a need for home care in her community. There wasn’t another mobile service within 200 miles, Dr. Russell said, and she constantly met clients in a traditional practice whom she knew would benefit from a house call.
“I was also seeing the rise of corporate consolidation of clinics, and going mobile allowed me to independently own my own practice at a fraction of the cost of a traditional brick and mortar,” she said.
No Looking Back
Transitioning to a mobile practice has plenty of benefits. For instance, those veterinarians can reach pet owners who have mobility issues or might not have easy access to a traditional clinic, especially in rural areas. What’s more, transporting sick pets to a veterinary clinic can be challenging for owners and stressful for both client and patient.
Dr. Bethany Hsia co-founded in-home euthanasia provider CodaPet.
Dr. Emma Fulton, who lives in Liverpool, England, worked alongside a friend in a mobile unit in 2023. The experience opened her eyes to what’s possible outside of a traditional clinic and convinced her to follow in her friend’s footsteps. She quickly discovered that switching to a mobile operation allowed her to slow the visits and focus on each patient.
“Without the constant shuffle of a crowded waiting room, I was able to spend more quality time with pets and their owners, which helped in fostering stronger, trusting relationships,” she said. “It brought a sense of connection that I don’t often feel in the rush of a typical clinic day.”
Dr. Russell found numerous benefits for herself and her Florida clients.
“The biggest is convenience — clients don’t have to leave their homes to receive vet care,” she said. “Along with that comes the advantages of less stress on the pets and getting to see multiple pets at one time, as we have numerous clients who have anywhere from five to 10 pets. You also get to see pets in their daily environment, which can sometimes help with diagnosing and treating them.”
For example, a scared cat arrives at a brick-and-mortar practice and immediately wants to hide in its carrier and hiss. In a home setting, Dr. Russell said, cats like that purr and head-butt her hand in a display of affection.
“I can easily do a full physical exam and maybe pick up on something that could get missed in a traditional practice because that pet isn’t as cooperative for an exam,” she said. “As mobile vets, we also get a more intimate interaction with clients, and this makes client compliance easier due to that extra level of trust they have with us.”
Plus, she finds more time for patient care. “There’s a lot of downtime when driving between appointments,” Dr. Russell said. “I have a technician who travels with me, so we use that time for her to call clients back, finalize records, and do any other managerial work. This helps reduce my workload and focus more on patient care.”
One of the most significant benefits Dr. Hsia has seen since going mobile in California concerns financial matters.
“Operating a mobile practice involves lower overhead costs compared to maintaining a brick-and-mortar facility,” she said. “Expenses related to rent, utilities and staffing can be minimized, allowing for potentially higher profit margins.”
Since making the change, Dr. Moon has noticed big changes in her patients.
“A mobile practice makes veterinary visits more accessible since we come to our patients, and it’s so less stressful,” she said. “There is no car ride or waiting room — just the comfort of their own home. There is also no stress from other pets in the clinic.
“Mobile veterinary visits improve animal health care in that we can see those patients that have a hard time coming to the clinic or get very stressed out in the process of coming to a clinic or being in the clinical setting.”
Bumps in the Road
Not that going mobile is entirely problem-free.
“The biggest challenge in the mobile setting is finding an assistant who is trained, trustworthy and a good driver,” Dr. Moon said. “Thankfully, I’ve been able to find a few people over the years to help me. I had experience with them in previous clinical situations.”
For Dr. Russell, the highest initial hurdle when she went mobile involved scheduling.
“We service a fairly large area, so we had to come up with a way to be as efficient as possible,” she said. “For us, this included breaking up our service area into territories and assigning certain days to those areas. We also schedule all our appointments each day using a route planner that allows us to save time and fuel by mapping out all our appointments.”
Then there is the mobile vehicle itself, which requires regular maintenance, fuel and sometimes working longer hours due to the travel.
“Honestly, those are all outweighed by the benefits, at least in my experience,” England’s Dr. Fulton said. “It’s about making it work for you and finding the balance that feels right.”
CodaPet’s Dr. Hsia noted another challenge: While mobile veterinary practices can provide many essential services, such as vaccinations, wellness exams and minor procedures, they often cannot offer the full range of treatments available in a brick-and-mortar facility. For example, complex surgeries or diagnostic imaging might require specialized equipment that is impractical to transport in a vehicle.
Still, the convenience and flexibility more than outweigh the negatives, Dr. Hsia said.
According to Dr. Russell, being mobile has allowed her to provide more personalized and attentive care for pets, along with enhanced client communication.
“This leads to healthier and happier pets — and clients,” she said. “With more and more vets going mobile, I think house-call services will become a more normal option for pet owners.”
MOTORIZED MONEY
According to the AVMA’s latest Economic State of the Veterinary Profession report, veterinarians who operated a mobile-only business reported an average gross revenue of $466,002 in 2023.
A WORTHY TRADE-OFF
A study published in the Nov. 1, 2023, issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association concluded: “It would appear that for many relief or mobile veterinarians, the decision to leave their previous position in search of one that offers better work-life balance paid off.” Read the complete report at bit.ly/4kDYeBP.