In March 2020, as the world started to shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, nobody could envision that COVID-19 would still be a part of our lives more than three years later. From an immunological standpoint, the virus killed millions and sickened many more, leaving some with persistent neurological issues. As for the veterinary field, COVID had short- and long-term effects. \u201cShort COVID\u201d resulted in:<\/p>\n
Veterinary practices did great adapting to short COVID, but as the virus\u2019 effects wane, what will long COVID look like? In other words, how has the pandemic changed the delivery of veterinary care into the future, and how can practices deal with the accompanying challenges? Some of the critical areas to explore include:<\/p>\n
Veterinary professionals have discussed, argued and leveraged this one continuously. Everybody agrees about the need for more team members at all levels of general practice and in specialty and critical care. However, a source of great consternation is how many we need and how to find them.<\/p>\n
The time when practices can once again easily hire veterinarians, technicians and other team members is far in the future. Therefore, we must focus on:<\/p>\n
The two most critical considerations are:<\/p>\n
Obviously, compensation depends on the type of practice, its location and other factors. Good luck finding a full-time doctor willing to accept an annual base salary of less than $100,000. And that\u2019s before a five-figure signing bonus, which is common, and flexible fringe benefits and work schedules.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re unsure of your practice\u2019s competitiveness, gather as much local market information as possible. Review help-wanted ads seeking veterinarians and staff members, and monitor online conversations. All job seekers see the same information, so they\u2019re unlikely to consider a position that pays below the market rate.<\/p>\n
Also, examine your practice\u2019s doctor and staff situation. Don\u2019t assume that employees paid less than the market rate are OK with it. Businesses of all kinds are seeing a lot of quiet quitting these days, so your veterinarians, technicians, assistants, receptionists and managers might not hesitate to leave abruptly when a better offer comes along.<\/p>\n
While money is essential to any employee, market-range salaries might not be enough to keep someone in today\u2019s hiring environment. Your practice must be a place where people want to work. Your clinic\u2019s culture influences much of that desire. Remember this:<\/p>\n
\u00a0The first step in building a good culture or improving one that is only adequate is to weed out the toxic elements. These influences include:<\/p>\n
Hiring and keeping people is impossible without a good culture, no matter how much you pay them.<\/p>\n
COVID pulled back the curtain on the inefficient delivery of veterinary medicine. The curbside model added more steps to a profession in which 10,000 steps is a morning workload. Client wait times, especially in emergency settings, sometimes were hours long during the depths of the pandemic. However, most practices saw fewer pets despite the feeling of busyness. Those doctor-centric, underleveraged practices were on roller skates as their teams tried to keep their balance and get through the day.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, in-car and online checkouts and the greater utilization of staff members for client communication were tremendous additions. But what will happen as curbside interactions subside?<\/p>\n
Pre-COVID, veterinary practices dealt with efficiency issues by hiring more people. Since that isn\u2019t an option anymore, hospitals must focus on doing more with less. And, of course, that requirement doesn\u2019t just entail telling people to work harder.<\/p>\n
Doctor productivity depends heavily on how management runs the practice, which means the environment, staff training and resources must be just right if you expect all team members to be more productive. The areas to focus on include:<\/p>\n
During COVID, corporate acquisitions of veterinary practices created a lot of multimillionaires as the busyness and rapid revenue growth had investors hunting for the most profitable hospitals. Practice purchases by corporate groups have slowed in recent months, and the prices paid have fallen, too.<\/p>\n
Corporate-owned practices suffer from the same issues as the independents: employee shortages and increases in the cost of labor and supplies.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next for independent practice owners looking to sell and for corporations? No question, the market remains healthy, but corporate buyers are more risk averse today and focus as much on practice operations as the acquisition. As a result, sellers whose hospitals enjoy strong profitability and are well-run are most attractive to buyers and will command higher prices.<\/p>\n
A profession faced with substance abuse and suicide issues even before COVID is now thick in the middle of employee burnout and quiet quitting. Unfortunately, mental health issues have gotten worse. Luckily, those suffering and those trying to help are discussing the problems and, in many cases, working together to identify and implement answers.<\/p>\n
How can practice owners and managers contribute? Here are a few ways:<\/p>\n
Read up on well-being and mental health in the workplace. It isn\u2019t just a veterinary medicine issue; employers everywhere are dealing with it. Recognize that different people want different things, and practices trying to find and keep employees must offer an attractive environment.<\/p>\n
The stay-at-home pandemic produced millions of new pet owners and a greater awareness of pet behavior and medical issues needing attention. However, veterinary fees rose to accommodate pay increases, supply-chain problems and economic inflation. Meanwhile, many clients couldn\u2019t get appointments because of government health restrictions and staff shortages. The escalating price of veterinary care challenged some pet owners.<\/p>\n
Access to veterinary care<\/a>, the cost of care and the term \u201cspectrum of care\u201d have moved from out of the shadows to the front and center. Ask yourself:<\/p>\n As we move farther from the pandemic, we\u2019ll see some normalization of the busyness of veterinary practices, opening appointment slots that at one time might have been unavailable for weeks. Additionally, as efficiency improves and we leverage our teams more, clients will see their primary care clinician more easily.<\/p>\n Another outcome of the pandemic was the rapid growth of urgent care clinics. These locations picked up the slack from general practices and some emergency hospitals. As our clogged appointment books start to unclog, urgent care will remain an option for clients needing veterinary services as soon as possible.<\/p>\n The escalation in fees also widened the gap in affordable veterinary care. Among the solutions we can present to clients are pet health insurance, third-party financing and wellness plans. In addition, membership plans can make the cost of care more predictable.<\/p>\n Pet owners have even more choices when we communicate the spectrum of care, which focuses on the idea that clinical recommendations and options exist along a continuum. At one end is the most extensive, most expensive and often most invasive diagnostic and treatment option. At the other end is the less expensive, least extensive and least invasive possibility. Between the two is a range of choices a client can select to find the best fit. That \u201cbest\u201d choice will satisfy a patient\u2019s medical and quality-of-life needs within the owner\u2019s limitations and goals. At the same time, veterinarians maintain their moral, ethical and legal obligations to pets and clients.<\/p>\n As veterinary prices rise, we must be more sensitive to client needs and demands so that we don\u2019t see even more pet owners avoiding a veterinarian entirely.<\/p>\n The influx of new technological resources<\/a> is amazing. Whether clinical or management based, a plethora of new tools are ready to help patients, clients and practice staff. From online appointment books and automated social media marketing to handheld dental radiology units and GPS wearables, technological growth didn\u2019t slow during the pandemic.<\/p>\n As we embrace technology, don\u2019t forget that we also must embrace clients and their pets. Going too far technologically can take veterinary medicine from a relational profession to a robotic one. Efficiency might improve, but will the technology deliver puppy kisses?<\/p>\n As a technological option, telemedicine generated more interest during the pandemic, reducing the need to see patients physically and, in some cases, making care more affordable. The regulatory environment is clarifying how and when our profession can use telehealth, and veterinarians and their teams are figuring out how it fits into their practices. However, the option shows we can offer more veterinary care, lower costs, leverage our team and improve efficiency.<\/p>\n Whether we\u2019re talking about interactive appointment books, online pharmacies or text updates, pet owners desire veterinary practices that offer the same level of technology used to book an Uber or order a home-delivered meal. Keeping up with clients\u2019 wants and needs isn\u2019t possible if we don\u2019t meet their digital demands.<\/p>\n Digital tools must enhance the client experience without harming the relationship we long to create. Therefore, during long COVID, you must be high tech and high touch.<\/p>\n As the pandemic challenges taxed everybody emotionally, some highly anxious pet owners displayed flat-out bad behavior at veterinary practices. Whether the trigger was curbside restrictions, costlier care or cabin fever, too many clients went off the deep end. As a result, practices fired more clients<\/a> in three years than in the prior 20.<\/p>\n Within hospitals, employees were pushed to the breaking point, leading some to leave the practices and, in some cases, the profession.<\/p>\n The battle between clients and practices isn\u2019t healthy. We need each other. How can we put out the fire and bring back the hugs?<\/p>\n Veterinary medicine wasn\u2019t the only business impacted by the pandemic from a client-service standpoint. Many companies dealt with angry, upset and frustrated consumers. What veterinary medicine must reconcile is that we are a service industry first and a health care provider second. This means your practice must focus on the client experience. It also means pet owners will make more and more choices about the type of experience they want.<\/p>\n Making every client happy is impossible. Trying to do it increases the stress on yourself and your team. We must balance what we want to do in our practices with what we must do to operate successfully.<\/p>\n Many of the issues with client dissatisfaction involved miscommunication. We must work on clearly sharing our expectations of pet owners and understanding and appreciating what they expect. Think of it as a bill of rights for clients and practices that defines things both ways.<\/p>\n In the end, we\u2019re not saying every practice must keep every client. But, going forward, decide what your optimal clients look like. Then take care of them the way they desire. Recognize that you don\u2019t have to take care of everyone, but you should take care of enough of them to make your practice as financially successful as you want.<\/p>\n The neurological impact of long COVID on people includes a lack of mental clarity, poor concentration, memory problems, difficulty multitasking and \u201cbrain fog.\u201d Its impact on the veterinary profession is the antithesis. Change, adaptation, resilience, flexibility, persistence and future-think were necessitated by the pandemic\u2019s infiltration into our relatively consistent and staid business models. To quote Albert Einstein, \u201cIn the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Long COVID dramatically affected veterinary medicine by providing us with a previously untapped level of opportunity. Let\u2019s grab it and hold onto it. We\u2019re in for an exciting ride.<\/p>\n\n
Technology<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Clients<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nBETTER MENTAL HEALTH<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n