Concepts of Practice Health

Richard Loveless
Practice Health Manager
Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc.

Click here to view the slideshow (Loveless ACVC)

Concepts of Practice Health

•  Happy Clients

•  A Healthy Practice

•  A better "Quality of Life"

•  They all can co-exist!

What Brought You to Veterinary Medicine?

•  Caring, Compassion

•  Love and want of others to love animals

•  Feeling good about what you do

•  Making a difference

•  Being part of one of the greatest professions in the world

Challenges in Practice

•  Increased competition

•  Increased costs

•  Finding good people

•  Training good people

•  Keeping good people

•  Dealing with people

•  Client objections

What If:

•  You could really enjoy your career while staying focused on the pet's best interest

•  You also earned the financial security for a better quality of life?

Topics for Discussion:

•  Factors that influence change

•  Trying something new

•  Finding the right vision

•  Impactful Communications

•  Business realities, and passive income (Organization)

•  Building a productive team

•  Outstanding Customer Service (Consistant messaging)

•  Building your strategy

•  Interactive Discussion

Why do people purchase products and services from a veterinary hospital?

•  What are they really buying?

•  Benefits (Peace of Mind)

•  Features

The Influence of Perception

•  Our perception of clients/ourselves

•  Client's perception of "value"

•  Finding time to build "value"

•  Need for new approaches to deliver better veterinary medicine

Not a Question of Right or Wrong

•  The intent is to look at things "Differently"

•  "Given six days to cut down a tree, I'd spend five days sharpening the ax." - --(Abraham Lincoln)

What Causes Change?

Understanding Change

•  Practice Health

Supporting the Veterinary Change Engine

•  Requires leadership to move forward with a vision

•  Requires new systems to identify and overcome obstacles while maintaining momentum

•  Must come in small steps

We Now Know That:

•  Clients now have easy access to large amounts of information which causes confusion in the marketplace

•  Time has a real value to clients

•  Managing time is a common stress- maker for veterinary hospitals.

Where Can You Find the Best Source of Information for a Pet Today?

•  The Veterinary Hospital

•  Through the use of a well leveraged health care team (Adaptations from Dr. Steve Garner)

The Art of Trying Something New

•  Paradigms

•  "Attitude" is everything

•  Finds the "Diamonds in your own back yard"

•  Initiates the evolution of creativity

Related Importance to You

•  Historical management styles can reject new ideas

•  Be sensitive to the "Letting go" process

•  Change can be a good thing

•  Implement new ideas in _________

Remember......

•  Quote from Einstein

•  Understanding paradigms is key

Change concepts���..

•  What are some important points you have observed or learned today?

What is Vision?

•  The perception of our success as a professional (What we want to be)

•  Is this important when implementing change?

•  Why is this important to you?

Leadership Model

Status Quo	The New Vision
•  My comfort zone	•  What will it look like?
•  I know how to behave	•  Where are we going?

Vision defines the new world and allows people to adjust their own "comfort zone"

The Influence of "Leadership"

•  Who can take the lead

Your Road Map

•  Do you see your position as a career?

•  "More Up front, more in the back"

•  Actively working with clients??

Following Your Road Map

•  How can the veterinary practice help you reach your potential?

•  Is there an environment that will allow growth and positive change to occur?

Make Time to be Creative

•  Appreciate the diversity in other people and "Actively Listen" to what they are saying

•  Be looking for new options

•  Help others see what can't be seen

Maintaining a Great Attitude

•  Work to balance your personal and professional life

•  Develop your vision as part of the hospital vision

•  Encourage performance appraisals and clear job descriptions

•  Reflect on the intrinsic motivation that brought you to veterinary medicine

•  Clarify obstacles, recommend solutions

Organization

•  Roles and Responsibilities

The Veterinarian's Role

•  Examine

•  Diagnose

•  Prescribe therapeutic medications

•  Perform surgery

•  Outline treatment plans

•  Create the environment for others to be empowered to implement their roles

The Technician's Role

•  Routine samples and diagnostic tests

•  Anesthesia induction & monitoring

•  Nursing care, assist veterinarian in diagnostic & surgical procedures

•  Client education and development of passive income

•  Building value in products and services endorsed and provided by the hospital��..including its image!

Have You Seen a Veterinarian Perform These Tasks?

•  Interview & hire new employees

•  Basic Staff training

•  Client education

•  Taking radiographs

•  Collecting laboratory samples

•  Performing routine diagnostic tests

•  Placing IV catheters��the list goes on

Why Do Veterinarians Perform These Tasks?

•  Traits that make a good veterinarian can conflict with delegation. (Structure&Paradigms)

•  Trained that way in veterinary school

•  Client requests (Paradigms)

•  Understaffed (Availability)

•  Not aware of a more efficient use of their time and that of the technician. (Paradigms)

•  May not recognize the technicians ability to perform an activity... possibly better

Looking at the Average Client Base (AVMA 1997& Fritz Wood)

•  25% deliver 75% of the income

•  30% deliver 20% of the income

•  45% deliver 5% of the income

Affluent Childless 35 - 65 Visited her Veterinarian 10 - 12 times last year Spends 7 - 8 times more Deserves Recognition

Income Goals

	Veterinarians time developing "Active Income" )
	Technicians time developing "Passive Income" (Fritz Wood)
	Increased Utilization, Productivity & Higher Salaries = Better Medicine

Customer Service

•  How important is it to you?

•  How do we judge an airline?

•  Airline Cockpit Crew

•  How does this impact a Healthcare Team

•  Clients make decisions on what they know and what they perceive.

•  Quote from Patch Adams

•  Why is Customer Service So Important?

  Perception alone can cause a client to access services from your hospital rather than elsewhere!!

Technical Knowledge vs Customer Service

Building Your Strategy

•  Begin with "Small Steps

•  Build your vision

•  Build your team

•  Offer more services to existing clients

•  Increase productivity

•  Happy Clients, Healthy Practice, Better Quality of Life

Quality Time with the Client requires a Healthcare Team Effort

•  To build a trust and a bond to the team

•  Build the value of a "Pet Advocate"

•  Allow time for better client communications and follow-up

•  Provide such a positive experience the client would never think of going elsewhere (Mark Opperman)

Programs or Processes Develop Teamwork (E-Myth, Michael Gerber)

•  Setting any team objective

•  Hospital Appearance

•  Standardized Programs

-  Pediatric

-  Geriatric Programs

-  Weight Management

-  Behavior

-  Awareness Displays

-  Updating Hospital Brochures

Processes Mean Better Medicine

•  Nutritional counseling

•  Diagnostic benefits

•  Providing additional products and services

•  Communications that reach more interested clients

•  Implement new ideas and measure steps toward success

•  Others

Tools and Materials

•  Setting goals to support team building

•  Developing a process (Meeting Planner)

•  Use of vendor materials

Click the image to view a larger version.

Good Medicine is Good Business

•  Optimum nutrition is "Good Medicine

•  Skills learned apply to every other product or service in the hospital

•  Health Care Connection from Hill's

•  800-548-VETS (8387) Hotline

Conclusion

•  You could be the diamonds in your own back yard.

•  Help your veterinary hospital find the solutions to provide better medicine in a rapidly changing world.

•  We want to be there too!