Practice Management

A base plan gives team members somewhere to start, minimizing confusion and panic.

If your success is starting to slip, it could be that you no longer offer the care you so eagerly gave clients in the early days of practice. But it's not too late to get back on track.

My first use of timed artificial (AI) insemination came immediately after veterinary college. A prostaglandin product had been approved for horses, but it was expensive. By infusing a fraction of the equine dose into the uterus of a cow with a corpus luteum, it usually could be brought into estrus. Timed insemination has come a long way.

Q. How do I deal with a team member who is going through a personal issue and seems noticeably distracted during work?

Make sure your benefits stack up well against the other options team members could find in your area-and give employees more reasons to stick around.

Q. To help my team members improve their computer skills, I'd like to pay for training classes. But I'm afraid a team member might leave soon after and I won't get a return on my investment. Should I take the risk?

EVERYONE IS CAPABLE OF MULTITASKING, but equine practitioners take the gold medal: driving the truck to the next appointment, talking on the cell phone, writing invoices, and keeping up with new technology. But at what expense? And how can you manage all those jobs and still focus on providing high-quality medicine?

The honeymoon is over. You've settled into your new place, routine has set in, and you're starting to realize this marriage thing isn't exactly how you dreamed it would be. Sound familiar?

Stagnation isn't an option. So use these strategies to paddle along the always-swelling river of new information. You'll find they make professional growth easy and exciting-and keep your passion for practice alive.

As the continuing education season is well under way, the time has come for another practical quiz.

A corporate trustee won't die, move away, take a vacation or be biased or distracted by personal concerns.

I'm in the process of buying land for a new practice. How much land do I need if I want to expand in the future?

High overtime costs prompted Gerard Gervasi, hospital administrator at Collierville Animal Clinic in Collierville, Tenn., and the practice owners to look into the financial impact of being open on Saturdays. "Saturdays were the costliest days of operation for the practice," he says. "And we didn't give the same level of care that we did the rest of the week. By the end of the week, doctors and staff members were tired, and we were only open five and a half hours, which didn't always give us enough time to work up a sick case properly."

From divorce to debt, everyone deals with personal issues?and you may feel you shoulder too big a burden. Use these strategies to manage tough situations when they spill into the workplace.

As you may know, we launched a new magazine especially for team members last fall-Firstline. (Hopefully you've seen it around the practice. I'd be even happier if you saw it in your team members' hands.)

Michigan Veterinary Specialists in Southfield, Mich., is a large specialty practice with a 24-hour facility. Technicians work different shifts and are constantly passing on important information about patients. "To improve communication between shifts, we made cage tags that highlight patients' special needs," says Kathy Estrada, LVT, the practice's technical services manager.

"When deciding on a maternity leave policy, you need to consider the legal requirements as well as the total benefits package you want to offer," says Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board member Dr. Karen Felsted, CPA, MS, CVPM, a consultant at Brakke Consulting Inc. in Dallas.

The goal: As Bob Townsend, former CEO of Avis Rent A Car System LLC, has said, "Create the kind of environment that pays people to bring their brains to work." The more you identify and address employees' job-related needs, the more likely they'll engage in what psychologists call "motivated behavior."

Backup equipment need not just sit on the shelf waiting to step in when things break down.

When you decide to invest in the stock market, keep in mind something that professional analysts must remember: Investing always requires weighing potential risk against potential award.

Should the doctor know the prices for procedures and services?

I suspect our sick-leave policy encourages employees to take time off when they're not really ill. Is there any way to prevent this?

Are your waste bins full of paper, cans, plastic, cardboard, and other recyclables? Use these quick tips to launch a recycling program in your practice.

"To increase efficiency at our front desk, we maintain a very organized file-placement system, with bins for every possible function," says Sabrina Lewis, veterinary nurse at Central Broward Animal Hospital in Plantation, Fla.

Nothing messes up a day like a steady string of interruptions.

Lynn Kessel, practice manager at Round Rock Animal Hospital in Round Rock, Texas, firmly believes that every hospital manager needs someone to vent to, share ideas with, or solve problems with. "The doctors are busy, and it may not be appropriate for a manager to share certain issues with employees," she says.

Changes in horse owners' expectations clear a path for better working conditions?and may let you dedicate more time to your patients.

There's more to a good site than the right location. Here's a look at the other factors you need to consider.

Veterinarians are paid by leftovers; that is any money left over after all other obligations have been satisfied.

It's hard for team members to implement changes if the doctors aren't on the same page. Solve this problem with a new approach to team training.