Business

Product Focus: Diagnostic Imaging - X-ray Supplies

The reasons for building new practices are as varied as the doctors who build them. Some want space for new services. Some want to reflect their medical style. Some want it all. Dr. Mark G. Romain, though, had a humble goal: to build a hospital with a functional floor plan.

Dr. Michael Merrithew doesn't think he'll be quick to make any changes to his vaccine protocols despite a recent report from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) that calls for reduction in vaccinating dogs.

Playing "God" with clients is the veterinary version of "the revenge of the nerds."

Pullman, Wash.-A new tool could be at hand for "subtyping" strains of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria that cause food-borne illness, thanks to scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture.

A client comes into the office with a printout of some Internet article claiming that veterinarians are recommending vaccines that are simply unnecessary. What do you tell this client? More importantly, how do you train your staff to handle this?

Risk Factor Questionnaire for Client

Uncle Sam, in the form of our tax laws, is willing to pick up a portion of the expenses of every veterinarian attending a trade show, meeting or similar event.

Dr. Jim Irwin schools you on how to provide clients with a thorough understanding on recommendations to increase the level of acceptance for care.

Back to basics: Support yourself by providing a valuable service to clients

In the March/April issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), an Executive Summary of the 2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines was published. A full text of the guidelines, recommendations, and supporting literature is available to AAHA members on the organization's Web site (www.aahanet.org).

DVM degree allows entry to 'spin zone' even paparazzi would envy

Ms. Karyn Gavzer identifies the barriers that prevent the veterinary team from getting clients to act on prescribed medical services.

Dr. Thomas E. Catanzaro sifts through the misconceptions about compliance issues in practice.

Dr. Marsha L. Heinke offers a lesson in phone etiquette to ensure your staff doesn't shut the door on clients even before they walk in.

Dr. Linda Randall explores how the veterinary team can have a direct influence on whether or not a client will except a recommendation.

Building a hospital is usually an effort of love-and a project you expect to enjoy for years. But Dr. Frank A. Klimitas built his new hospital, a historic building renovation, because of business needs rather than to fulfill a dream.

Don't just play the blame game; remain proactive in talking about herd issues

Asking the right questions critical during physical examination

Answer to practice woes could be as simple as 'who's answering the phone'

'They Love Lucy' star blind to long-term economic problems  

Since the beginning of the year, I am getting more and more calls from colleagues concerned about their financial stability, the erosion of their retirement funds and with the decline in client visits, the ability of their practice to weather this recession.

The Center for Specialized Veterinary Care, a new hospital in Long Island, N.Y., is the first to offer pet owners private rooms so they can stay with their hospitalized pets 24 hours a day.

Not every profit center suits every practice. How do you decide what to add? Follow these steps from Practice Management Editor Mark Opperman, CVPM, president of VMC Inc. in Evergreen Colo., and Indianapolis.

For years Dr. Susan M. Baker had heard colleagues and consultants tout the benefits of adding profit centers. But her old hospital just wasn't big enough to add any more services. So in 1999, when she outgrew the facility she had leased since 1990, she started working on plans for a new hospital. At 6,200 square feet, her new facility offers space for the additional services she dreamed of offering.

Formal reprimand, suspension, dismissal all appropriate at times

Mixed animal practitioners caught on the 'horns of dilemma'

Learn how to make lemonade out of life's lemons

Imagine yourself on a long trip. For the most part, traffic has been rolling along at 70 miles an hour on a highway with a 65-mile speed limit. You are a quarter mile behind the car ahead of you as you enter an area with a reduced speed 50 miles per hour sign, and you see a state highway patrol car just ahead with its radar pointed directly at you.

While clients offer untold excuses as to why they fail to comply with heartworm recommendations and senior screenings, the blame sometimes belongs to the one giving - or not giving - the recommendation.