Who's to blame for poor client compliance?

When it comes to client noncompliance, the famous songsmith Bob Dylan said it best: “No, no, no, it ain't me, babe.” Team members, practice managers, and veterinarians agree: Clients-the ones to pay for and sign off on care for their pets-are the biggest reason for lack of thorough care and preventive medicine. Of course, after the overwhelming majority blamed clients, team members and veterinarians blamed themselves.

So now that we forced you to point fingers at your clients and co-workers as the culprits for noncompliance, we'll let you in on an embarrassing secret: Some readers hated the two questions we asked. Check out "Doctors say it's complicated" to see what veterinarians told our sister magazine Veterinary Economics about fault in failure to follow recommendations.

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Data source: 2010

Veterinary Economics

State of the Industry Study

The complete package:

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

Doctors say it's complicated

Getting to yes

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Data source: 2010

Firstline

Team Trends Study

The complete package:

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

Doctors say it's complicated

Getting to yes

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Data source: 2010

Veterinary Economics

State of the Industry Study

The complete package:

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

Doctors say it's complicated

Getting to yes

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Data source: 2010

Firstline

Team Trends Study

The complete package:

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

Doctors say it's complicated

Getting to yes

Doctors say it’s complicated

Veterinarians, practice owners, and other readers had plenty to say about who's to blame for client noncompliance. Check it out:

"We are a very inexpensive practice. If clients don't choose care or preventive care, it's their fault. Some people have other priorities, and it's not up to me to decide whether those priorities are acceptable."

"Sometimes the veterinarian doesn't do a good job explaining, sometimes the team doesn't do a good job following through, and sometimes a client randomly decides to listen to some wackjob on the Internet instead."

"I think clients are often at fault, but for a variety of reasons. If they see me, they get the education on what care a pet needs. But if they ignore our follow-up reminder cards and calls, there may be a good reason-like a change in the pet owner's health or financial status. For others, it's simply that they choose not to take care of their pets in the manner we think they should."

"It's primarily the client who is at fault for not complying with recommendations, but it's up to the veterinarian and the team to thoroughly educate and make sure the client is declining the services from a well-educated perspective."

"There's no fault. If advice isn't accepted, the client has a reason. That's just the way it is-you can't 'guilt' clients into increased commitment to their pets."

"It's a combination of poor client education and client misunderstanding that results in poor compliance, so the entire team (veterinarian included) must share in the fault. Clients will claim recommendations were never made, even when they were diligently explained. Veterinarians and staff will claim the client declined the recommendations, even if education was skipped and a client might have agreed. We need to better educate the public about preventive medicine; it's startling how many pet owners don't use veterinary services at all."

The complete package:

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

Doctors say it's complicated

Getting to yes

Getting to yes

Click here

to download a sheet of dos and don'ts for all types of client recommendations.

The complete package:

If clients fail to provide their pets with thorough veterinary care, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

If clients don't follow your practice's recommendations for preventive medicine, who's primarily at fault?

Veterinarians say...

Team members say...

Doctors say it's complicated

Getting to yes