{"id":78737,"date":"2025-12-01T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T05:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/?p=78737"},"modified":"2025-11-17T13:44:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:44:15","slug":"relief-veterinarians-money-matters-1225","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/relief-veterinarians-money-matters-1225\/","title":{"rendered":"Weighing the Cost and Value of Relief Vets"},"content":{"rendered":"

A decade ago, shorthanded practice owners hired a relief veterinarian they knew to cover the days when a doctor was away. The cost was reasonable, and nonemergencies could wait until the doctor returned. Over the years, as the demand for veterinary services increased and clients became more willing to spend extra on their pets, the supply of veterinarians entering the profession did not keep pace, leading practices to hire relief veterinarians to cover shifts on an ongoing basis. Fast-forward to today, and I see many hospitals whose DVM labor costs are much higher than historical norms and, in some cases, financially unhealthy.<\/p>\n

How We Got Here<\/h3>\n

The growing use of relief help is a case study of supply and demand. As clients adopted record numbers of puppies and kittens during the pandemic, a four- to eight-week wait for a new-patient exam or wellness appointment became acceptable and commonplace.<\/p>\n

To handle the demand, practices competed for full-time associates, driving up DVM salaries. Sign-on and retention bonuses became the norm. Put simply, client demand for services was greater than the supply of associate DVMs seeking full-time employment.<\/p>\n

At that point, many practices became reliant on relief veterinarians, which, in turn, led to hospitals paying them rapidly escalating hourly and daily rates. The introduction of for-profit relief companies drove the prices higher. Per-diem rates went from $450 to $650 a decade ago to $1,000 and sometimes $2,000, depending on the shift and hospital.<\/p>\n

Making It Work Financially<\/h3>\n

The heightened cost of relief veterinarians isn\u2019t inherently bad for practice owners, but understanding the financial impact is critical. While associate DVMs might receive 20% to 22% of their production, payroll taxes and employee benefits amplify the labor expense. In contrast, practices don\u2019t incur payroll taxes or provide fringe benefits to relief veterinarians. Therefore, paying fill-in doctors 25% of their production often works well financially for the practice.<\/p>\n

The downside is that some clients might want to wait for their regular doctor to return to work rather than see a veterinarian they don\u2019t know. In addition, some relief veterinarians don\u2019t perform surgery or dental services<\/a>, which places a burden on the staff to keep the appointment book full and ensure the locum doctor is as efficient as possible in the exam room.<\/p>\n

For practices that regularly hire relief help<\/a>, I recommend the following:<\/p>\n