Business

IRS takes special interest in corporate loans to shareholders

You open the door to the exam room. On the other side of the table and occupying what seems to be half the room sits John Smith, 20 minutes late and weighing 350 pounds. Beside him is his similarly obese Saint Bernard, Ranger- restless and salivating onto all flat surfaces

Everything you read today indicates an overwhelming opinion consensus that veterinarians are paid abysmally as compared to other professions and even occupations.

When Dr. Marcel Florax set out to find a new practice site, he knew that not just any property would do. He wanted the flavor of his hospital to shine through. A 3,500-square-foot barn from the mid-1800s ended up being the perfect home for his 150-year-old practice--one of the oldest in England.

Q. I'm considering building my own clinic. What should I ask when hiring an architect? A. Hiring the right architect is one of the most important decisions you'll make during the building process, say Sal Longo Jr. and Michael Crosby, co-owners of Crosby Longo Architecture studio in New Orleans, La., and designers of the 2000 Hospital of the Year.

Title familiar? O.K. Maybe you have a life. For the rest of our readers, this Swahili mistranslation says basically no worries!

Minnesota and Wisconsin state organizations are in the preliminary stages of teaming with dairy veterinarians to better define the best role and best practices dairy veterinarians should follow in dairy practice, following the recent passage of a Minnesota resolution.

Lexington, Ky.-In mid-June, equine practitioners say cases of pericarditis and unilateral eye problems are still impacting a wide range of horse breeds.

Converting a 7,200-square-foot shell into a high-tech surgical hospital required skill, patience, and compromise from the six owners of Veterinary Surgical Associates in Concord, Calif. The resulting clinic took home a Best Specialty Hospital Award--a new category in the Veterinary Economics 2001 Hospital Design Competition.

The expense of using a portion of your home "exclusively" for business purposes is, as everyone knows, tax deductible.

Q I see a few novice pedigree dog breeders in my practice. Please provide a concise review about natural delivery of puppies and information that these novice breeders could benefit from reading.

Is your practice crying out for a new look? And is your budget screaming, "No!"? Well, help is here. Our team of design experts, all members of the Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board, knows you probably can't afford a complete hospital overhaul. But you can give your practice a makeover--just take it one room at a time. These eight tips will help you get started:

Relationships fascinate me. They contribute much to the satisfaction and happiness we derive from life. They are also the source of much pain and sadness.

If your reception area seems dull, new light fixtures can provide a low-cost solution. Although most veterinary hospital waiting areas have plenty of light, the quality is often poor.

Studying Norwalk Veterinary Medical Center in Norwalk, Ohio, from a distance is like watching clouds on a summer day. Some people see a barn; others see a train depot. And everyone is right. "We wanted to build a charming facility, inspired by old barns and train depots, that evoked the veterinary profession's farm roots," owner Dr. Ronald G. Hendrikson says. This vision led him to create an award-winning floor plan in just 2,736 square feet.

Q. I lease space in a strip mall that imposes strict regulations on signage. For instance, my sign must sit flush against the building and not stick up above the roof, I have to use muted colors, and it must say "Veterinary Hospital" instead of my clinic name. Without a distinct building and sign, how can I make my presence known?

Recently there has been a lot of discussion on AABP-L concerning a Web site that advertises prescription drugs at very low prices.

Most veterinarians are used to client jokes about deducting the family pet on the personal tax return.

Judging by the design of this year's best veterinary hospital, "form follows function" may be the trend of the new millennium. Meadow Hills Veterinary Center in Kennewick, Wash., showcases a classic design based on this hospital's dual functions--a traditional small animal practice by day, an emergency clinic by night. With its second-story atrium windows illuminating the hospital like a beacon, this 6,524-square-foot facility shines above the rest as the 2001 Hospital of the Year.

Buying the right radiograph machine takes research. Dr. David S. Biller, Dipl. ACVR, a radiology professor at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., suggests you consider these factors when choosing a unit:

"It seems like he gets shot out of a cannon every morning, and then just starts running from that spot. He's a great vet, but he's just so busy it's hard to get him to do anything that's not an emergency."

If I was in charge of veterinary school curriculum, I would make "Rural Navigation and Communications" a required class for senior veterinary students.

Even if you're planning to build a new, bigger facility, you need to make the most of your space. These tips from Tony L. Cochrane, AIA, a principal with Gates Hafen Cochrane Architects PC in Boulder, Colo., can help:

After 25 years of traveling to Garberville, Calif., to visit her family members, Dr. Judy Horvath and her husband, Steve Horvath, decided to simplify their lives and settle in the northern California village. Back in 1991, just two years after Dr. Horvath graduated from the University of California-Davis, the couple bought the only veterinary practice in the 1,200-person town.

You'd probably like to own an ultrasound machine, but before spending your hard-earned money, take time to determine whether you really need and will use one. "Ultrasound is to soft tissues what radiographs are to the bone, and we certainly see more soft tissue injuries than we do bone injuries," says Dr. Tracy Turner, Professor of Large Animal Surgery at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn. "You can't live without an ultrasound machine if you do lots of reproduction and lameness work. And it's also useful for visualizing the heart, lungs, pleural cavity, intestines, and other internal organs."

"It doesn't make any difference. I'll soon be out of business anyway."?This statement came in response to a suggestion I made to a client while still in practice. I was surprised. The person speaking was a friend as well as a client, and I knew he ran a profitable operation. He was usually upbeat and optimistic, but this morning there was irritation in his voice.

It is time to go to work. You have been in school for nearly eight years and within a few months you will receive your veterinary degree and become a licensed veterinarian. Naturally you are eager to find a job. After all, you have devoted most of your time and effort toward reaching this goal.

When veterinarians opt to leave private practice, they often cite frustrations dealing with staff training and retention.

Q. My old exam rooms contain tile floors and rubber baseboards. Waxing maintains the tile, but the baseboards attract dirt and cat hair, and the seam between the floor and boards gets very grimy. What can I do?

The premise of the TV show "Ed" isn't original: lawyer Ed opens a professional practice in a bowling alley. Dr. Kovacic beat NBC to the punch in 1988 when he moved Animal Emergency Center in Milwaukee into a leased space in a bowling alley. Dr. Rebecca Kirby, Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVECC, once a partner and now sole shareholder, remembers the location fondly: "We couldn't tell if it was thundering or someone made a strike," she says.