Veterinary economy: Some growth, but future guarded

Portland, Ore.

- More than half of the veterinarians surveyed report revenue growth for the first two quarters of 2008.

The data, released in late August by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) at Banfield's 2008 Pet Healthcare Industry Summit, sought to measure veterinarians' attitudes about a soft economy, reports Dr. John Albers, AAHA's executive director.

Despite the growth, almost 62 percent of the 550 veterinarians surveyed are very concerned about the issue, Albers reports.

"It's all we have been hearing about from our members. People are very focused on the economic climate of this country."

The survey compared total revenue of respondents for the first six months of 2008 and asked them to predict economic predictions for the remainder of the year.

According to the results, 56 percent of surveyed veterinarians report revenue increases for this time period, while more than one quarter (28.4 percent) cited declines. No change was reported by the remaining 16 percent of practitioners.

For the rest of the year, 40 percent of the surveyed veterinarians believe revenue will increase, 21 percent say it will decrease and 39 percent predict revenue will remain unchanged.

Banfield's 2008 Pet Healthcare Industry Summit brought together more than 150 leaders from associations to industry to talk about trends/issues facing veterinary medicine.