Stop stealing technicians' jobs

Your job as a veterinarian is to practice medicine, which involves examining patients, creating treatment plans, and performing surgery and other complex procedures. A technician's job is to implement your prescribed plan. So if you're drawing blood, restraining patients, or placing catheters, you're actually stealing part of your technician's job. Sure, it might be easier sometimes to do these tasks yourself. However, by spending your time on them instead of on the medical duties no one can perform but you, you're essentially robbing your practice of revenue.

According to our research, many of you delegate patient-care tasks to technicians appropriately. But there are still some gaps where you could be pushing more to your team. Consider this: Delegating improves efficiency and creates employee satisfaction and loyalty. When technicians feel valued, they'll be happier in their jobs and more apt to stay at your practice.

Here's what your technicians could be doing.

So, for maximum profitability, perform your doctor-specific duties and let others handle the rest. The next time you're sneaking notes into the drug log or tracking inventory after hours, stop. Then ask a technician to do the job. Your practice and patients will be better off for it.