He was a hard-working veterinarian, well respected both in his community and his state. He had even returned to school and earned his MBA. His practice was well established, his staff was loyal and tenured, and he even had a satellite facility to help his community diversification. The practice reception had a great mural on the wall, and a friendly feel. His spouse was a supportive manager, and his competent bookkeeper a solid family friend. He had three young associates, he worked hard, and enjoyed fishing, when he could get the time off. What more could he ask?

He knew there was something better, so after searching at many CE encounters, he aligned himself with a team-based veterinary consulting firm to help his healthcare delivery become more efficient and effective.

During the on-site visit, it was obvious that the tenured staff could really excel if the facility operations were "zoned" for better client service and patient flow. Zoning was a new concept for the practice. Not having the staff follow behind him like ducklings was not "normal", and it scared the associates to release their control of the flow. The staff loved the idea!

The staff jumped on the concept, and the five-phase skill development program started in all five hospital zones: client relations, outpatient, inpatient, animal caretakers, and doctors. The team excelled quickly, went through the five phases, each phase ending with the doctors saying, "We trust you at this skill level!" before moving forward.

The multi-tasking, out of sync, consultation room schedules started in phase four, along with multi-station treatment area use. The inpatient doctor and outpatient doctor mid-day rotations started in phase five. They took about sixty days to complete all five phases of the ninety-day expected developmental zoning and scheduling program. This was good news, since two associates left in the third month, one following a boyfriend, and the other moving closer to home.

When we returned for the second quarter follow-up, the doctor's commitment to working smarter had not wavered. He persevered on his quest for better efficacy. The staff had risen to the occasion, they were keeping everything on schedule, acting as veterinary extenders in most every way. They were really humming, staying on time for their clients, seeing more clients/patients than before, having longer lunch breaks, and he was even getting to go home earlier, while being two doctors short. Perseverance was seen at every level of this team, and it was nice!

Another reason we were on-site was to look at a potential renovation and/or expansion. This was a second quarter visit project. One of the doctor's sons came home from the university, the one that was in pre-vet, and was tasked to help us look at the design flow, with the zoned systems and schedules in mind. There was no way the practice was going back to linear scheduling or linear thinking!

We designed an outpatient expansion to put on the front of the building. It spanned the entire width of the existing facility. We designed a client/patient "mall". There was a rotating wall near one end of the mall, so two of the consultation rooms could be accessed at night for emergencies, without opening up the entire mall.

The six new consultation rooms were being added, with a STAT treatment area behind the consultation rooms, and a dispensing pharmacy at the emergency access end, all in the new outpatient wing. With some thought and redesign, the six consultation rooms wrapped around a nursing node in a two hundred seventy-degree arc. The doctor's travel distance between rooms became minimal (no long back hallway). Due to the two hundred seventy-degree arc, there were no square rooms, so we added a lot of windows to "open it up", and when the dust settled, we had three staffing configurations possible:

 One doctor working six rooms. The owner could already do this when using his staff.

 Two doctors working groups of three consultation rooms. A skilled associate could do this.

 Three doctors each working two consultation rooms, where we had new doctors performing after ninety days of orientation training.

The interesting thing was Dr. H.'s perseverance. He never accepted less than "what could be" if everyone embraced the multi-tasking format of healthcare delivery systems they had started.

And then there was the grand opening. The son came up from Ross University to enjoy his co-design, and the clients were amazed. They loved the fact that no two consultation rooms were alike. The angled walls, counters, exam tables, and windows varied. The staff loved the openness. Clients never worried where the doctor was. They could see him through the windows, circulating from room to room in the hub of the six rooms.

The old consultation rooms were made into discharge rooms, since they opened into the old reception area, which was now being renovated as the new inpatient area of the renovated facility. The staff could see how the new multi-tasking systems and schedules were supported by the new design, even the floating reception island, and they were proud of their new facility.

The new "medical records room" had been renamed the "compliance room", since all records were being screened for needed patient care, and clients were being called regularly to be reminded of the needs.

After the courtesy consultation visit, which occurred with the grand opening, the "compliance room" became the "Pet Parenting Program Headquarters", the outreach mission was redefined, and the staff pride soared with that term being introduced!

Perseverance had paid off. Even when the two associates had been lost, the team intensity responded, and the workload continued to increase daily, due to greater effectiveness and the commitment of the owner not to return to linear scheduling or thinking.

His client-centered patient advocacy allowed the "compliance room" to become the "Pet Parenting Program Headquarters", and that took only a few minutes to be enacted. His vision, inviolate core values, and consistent standards of care now had a showcase from which to operate, and his clients and patients responded. Return rates were increasing.

Powerful perseverance had turned the practice into a veterinary healthcare delivery showcase for clients, patients, and staff. It produced a powerful pride, which everyone now perceives as the key quality factor that differentiates the practice.

And his fishing time for Redfish and Snook has increased. You have to love it!