If your veterinary hospital is typical, you struggle to hire doctors and other team members. But what if you could magically hire a full-timer and not have to pay the person? A new study from Idexx Laboratories concludes that a practice could save as many as 2,000 hours a year — a year’s worth of labor — simply by optimizing productivity.
The report, “Finding the Time: Empowering Veterinary Teams to Get the Most Out of Every Day,” found that taking small steps can begin to improve workplace productivity.
Nearly 800 U.S. veterinary practices participated in the study.
“Eighty-two percent of our respondents are having a hard time hiring either a DVM, a vet tech, an assistant or even a receptionist,” said study co-author Sherouk Fetaih. “Knowing that, productivity and efficiency has to be part of what we do to meet the demand for care and not sacrifice quality of care.”
The 29-page report, available at idexx.com/FindingTime, can help a hospital determine where it falls on what Idexx calls the Practice Productivity Index. Included are self-assessment questionnaires focused on a practice’s workflow, technology and culture.
For example, ask yourself the following:
- “Does my team have a full understanding of core diagnostic protocols?”
- “Do we initiate diagnostic orders and/or review diagnostics results via our practice management software?”
- “When our practice is at its busiest or most chaotic, is there clarity on who does what?”
“Some very simple solutions were identified in this study, such as auto credit card payments and fully leveraging your PIMS,” said Dr. Jason W. Johnson, the other co-author and Idexx’s global chief medical officer. “If I was a practitioner, I would go through the questionnaires and figure out, ‘I can’t do everything at one time, but I can start with one or two things.’”
To be sure, veterinary practices know they have room to improve. According to the study, 87% of the respondents see an opportunity to increase their operational efficiency.