Decision Data: Add pay-by-the-month wellness plans?

Further resources

Thinking of starting a pay-by-month (or otherwise) preventive-care plan at your veterinary practice? Dive into our content here:

• 4 steps to picking a veterinary wellness plan

• Explaining value: "Wellness plan? But Barnaby's as fit as a fiddle!"

• The skeptic's guide to veterinary wellness plans

• Wellness plans: A rescue story

• Can you have too many wellness plans?

chendongshan/stock.adobe.comIt can often be difficult for a veterinary practice owner or manager to decide how to change their business model, when to add services and how to adjust for changing times. The team at dvm360 has been working with two of the sharpest veterinary analysts around (John Volk and Dr. Karen Felsted) to examine major changes practices have made and how happy the decision-makers were when all was said and done.

For the next few months, we'll be sharing results from their study as well as resources and commentary to help you make a decision as a practice owner or manager-or make a plan happen once you've decided.

This week, we look at the question of pay-by-month preventive-care (wellness) plans.

NOTE: Categories are based on the survey question, “What were your practice's gross revenues in 2016?” as well as questions about 2017 behavior and decisions.

Percentage of practices that offer pay-by-the-month preventive care (wellness) plans

Practices with gross revenue of ...

Percentage

Less than $500,000 6% $500,000-$999,000 10% $1 million-$1.5 million 12% $1.5 million-$2 million 11% $2 million-$3 million 18% $3 million-$5 million 9% $5 million or more 4%

Source: dvm360 Decisions Survey; Dr. Karen Felsted of PantheraT Consulting; John Volk of Brakke Consulting

No. 1 reason for offering preventive-care plans

Improve patient care 51% Improve client relations and retention 25% Increase patient visits 21% Attract new clients 15% Improve annual revenue per client 13% Improve practice profitability 12% Sell broader range of services 9% Lock clients into an annual contract for services 8% Clients asked for them 7% Because competitors offer them 5%

Source: dvm360 Decisions Survey; Dr. Karen Felsted of PantheraT Consulting; John Volk of Brakke Consulting

No. 1 benefit seen after offering preventive-care plans

More patients get better medical care 38% Better compliance 14% Developing plans helped us set standards of care 14% Stronger client bonding 8% Improved revenue 6% More frequent visits from clients 5% Positive client feedback 5% Attracted new clients 3% Excellent promotional tool 1% Recaptured lost services, such as spay-neuter 1% Positive feedback from staff 0 No benefits 4%

Source: dvm360 Decisions Survey; Dr. Karen Felsted of PantheraT Consulting; John Volk of Brakke Consulting

No. 1 problem with offering preventive-care plans

Challenge of explaining plans properly to clients 21% Record-keeping challenges 15% Amount of time and effort to implement 14% Offered bigger discounts than we needed to 10% Less client acceptance than anticipated 9% Cash-flow management 5% Finding service provider to help us 4% Plans too complicated 4% Required more staff training than anticipated 4% Associate veterinarians unenthusiastic 3% Plans too expensive 1% Team members unenthusiastic 1% No problems 11%

Source: dvm360 Decisions Survey; Dr. Karen Felsted of PantheraT Consulting; John Volk of Brakke Consulting

No. 1 benefit seen after offering preventive-care plans

More patients get better medical care 38% Better compliance 14% Developing plans helped us set standards of care 14% Stronger client bonding 8% Improved revenue 6% More frequent visits from clients 5% Positive client feedback 5% Attracted new clients 3% Excellent promotional tool 1% Recaptured lost services, such as spay-neuter 1% Positive feedback from staff 0 No benefits 4%

Source: dvm360 Decisions Survey; Dr. Karen Felsted of PantheraT Consulting; John Volk of Brakke Consulting

Satisfaction with decision

Extremely satisfied 27% Moderately satisfied 24% Satisfied 40% Dissatisfied 6% Moderately dissatisfied 3% Extremely dissatisfied 0

Source: dvm360 Decisions Survey; Dr. Karen Felsted of PantheraT Consulting; John Volk of Brakke Consulting