Business

The biggest share of practice advertising dollars is spent on Yellow Pages ads. The following are practical guidelines to help you think through your Yellow Pages strategy, improve your ad's efficacy and reduce costs.

Preanesthetic testing helps protect your patients' health--and decreases your practice's liability. Use this form to help educate clients.

Preanesthetic testing helps protect your patients' health and decreases your practice's liability. Here's how to use a client consent form to educate pet owners about this medical service.

A 33-pound royal turtle was snatched by poachers from a Cambodian river and smuggled across the Vietnamese border by motorbike, according to an article on CNN.com.

I frequently tout the goal of developing a womb-to-tomb relationship with our clients and their pets. At the core of our practice philosophy is the statement, "Focus on long-term relationships versus the short-term dollar."

I'm a full-time veterinarian, and my employer pays for my health insurance, which costs about $4,000 a year. I recently got married, and my husband's insurance is better. If I join my husband's policy, should I get that $4,000 benefit somewhere else in my package? Is it fair to ask my boss to add it to my salary or to add more paid vacation days in equivalent to the benefit money?

The future is rife with new veterinary exploration. Dr. Lonnie King is a believer and a pioneer.

Q. I'm an associate veterinarian paid on a straight salary. My employer doesn't offer group health insurance as part of my contract, but I'd like him to pay my medical insurance premiums and those of my husband and son. I checked with the IRS, and it appears that he can pay the premiums for my family tax-free. If he offers me this benefit, does he have to offer it to everyone on salary?

Use high-quality medicine, strong communication skills, and both internal and external marketing to create clients who act as advocates for the practice.

"The secret to a successful open house," says Christy Johnson, CVPM, practice administrator at Pampered Pet Health Center, "is to make it fun. Have lots of things for clients to see and do, and serve plenty of finger food. Involve your staff, distributors, and drug representatives. And get the word out."

The 2005 Well-Managed Practice Study shows how important strategic planning is to achieving your practice vision-and respondents say their only regrets are not planning sooner.

Up-and-coming generations could be poised to make big waves in the science and engineering fields, according to a survey by Bayer HealthCare LLC–Animal Health Division. In fact, 42 percent of parents surveyed report that their daughters have already expressed an interest in continuing to study or having a career in these fields, and 63 percent report that their sons have expressed the same interest.

I'm starting a small animal practice, and I'm hoping to add an associate with buy-in potential after two years. Which business entity would be best, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or Service Corporation?

A pet's euthanasia is always difficult for clients, and it can be tough for team members, too. Dr. Mark Reser of Neel Veterinary Hospital in Oklahoma City says he gets great feedback when he takes two key steps.

With a bit of tape and twine, most of you can fix almost anything. Of course, people and finances demand different tools. But they're not that much harder to master.

Being in your own business is working 80 hours a week so that you can avoid working 40 hours a week for someone else.

A devastating fire forced this doctor to rebuild his historic New Orleans practice. He took the opportunity to make a bold statement about his team's special focus on feline care.

Pet owners can now purchase the first patented GPS tracking system for pets, a 5-ounce device that snaps to a pet's collar. It's equipped with GPS and two-way wireless to track a pet and let the owner review his or her pet's location on a wireless device, like a cell phone or BlackBerry.

For the 30 years I've been a veterinarian, I've heard we don't have too few doctors; we have too many veterinary hospitals," says Dr. Dennis Cloud, owner of Cloud Veterinary Center in St. Louis, Mo., and a Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board member. While dramatic change is never an overnight event, the winds are blowing; Dr. Cloud's sentiments echo those of many in the veterinary profession, spurring the question: What practice models will define the future of the profession?

Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board member Dr. Marty Becker and other authors of "Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul" and "Chicken Soup for the Cat and Dog Lover's Soul" will release two new books on Oct. 11: "Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul" and "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul.".

Use this form to record your findings when you review medical records for missed charges.

Well-managed practices realize they need to reinvest to keep their practices moving forward. Here's how they plan to leverage their facilities.

Aanet Sizemore waits in the back for Carrie to come out of the room. Carrie is writing in all the particulars about Caleb, a forlorn looking Great Dane with chronic vomiting and persistent elevated white counts. Janet has seen Caleb in the past for this and an assortment of other maladies but has been able to totally stop the irregular vomiting.

There are two things every employee wants to know ...

For 12 years, Dr. Steve Bishop and his crew at Animal Care Hospital in Phoenix have been tapping the retired population to make callbacks in the early evening. Doing so frees time for receptionists to work on other jobs, he says. "Plus, the hourly pay is less than for a receptionist, and the workers are more flexible with their time."

Gina Toman, a Firstline Editorial Advisory Board member and a veterinary assistant at Seaside Animal Care in Calabash, N.C., says that when you do a good job passing the client off to the receptionist after the appointment, you help prevent missed charges and improve the client's experience.

Picture this: You're explaining why Baxter needs heartworm preventives when the tinny sound of Beethoven's 5th erupts from inside your client's purse.

If dental compliance is a concern at your practice, you're not alone. The team at Lockwillow Avenue Animal Hospital in Harrisburg, Pa., worried that clients didn't always follow their dental recommendations.

Here's a quick snapshot of what we've learned about your career, pay, responsibilities, and feelings about veterinary practice.

Do I have to be nice if a client is really rude?