Provides a quick veterinary reference to all things practice management related, with fast access to pertinent details on human resources, financial management, communications, facilities, and more
Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Practice Management Consult, Third Edition provides quick access to practical information for managing a veterinary practice. It offers 320 easily referenced topics that present essential details for all things practice management—from managing clients and finances to information technology, legal issues, and planning.
This fully updated Third Edition adds 26 new topics, with a further 78 topics significantly updated or expanded. It gives readers a look at the current state of the veterinary field, and teaches how to work in teams, communicate with staff and clients, manage money, market a practice, and more. It also provides professional insight into handling human resources in a veterinary practice, conducting staff performance evaluations, facility design and construction, and managing debt, among other topics.
KEY FEATURES:
Presents essential information on veterinary practice management in an easy-to-use format
Offers a practical support tool for the business aspects of veterinary medicine
Includes 26 brand-new topics and 78 significantly updated topics
Provides models of veterinary practice, challenges to the profession, trends in companion practices, and more
Features contributions from experts in veterinary practice, human resources, law, marketing, and more
Supplies sample forms and other resources digitally on a companion website
Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Practice Management Consult offers a trusted, user-friendly resource for all aspects of business management, carefully tailored for the veterinary practice. It is a vital resource for any veterinarian or staff member involved in practice management.
Table of contents
Editor-in-Chief and Consulting Editors
Contributors
Preface
About the Companion Website
Section 1 - Marketplace
1.1 Models of Veterinary Practice
1.2 Challenges to the Profession
1.3 Trends in Companion Animal Veterinary Practices
1.4 Veterinary Trade Areas
1.5 Today’s Pet Owner
1.6 Today’s Veterinarian
1.7 Today’s Veterinary Students
1.8 Internships and Residencies
1.9 Today’s Veterinary Paraprofessionals
1.10 Veterinary Staff
1.11 Functioning as a Healthcare Team
1.12 The Differing Perspectives of Practice Teammates
1.13 Generational Differences
1.14 Gender Issues
1.15 Personality Profiling
1.16 Value Disciplines
1.17 Practice Management Support Professionals
1.18 Stakeholders and Strategic Partners
1.19 Importance of the Human-Animal Bond
1.20 Mergers and Acquisitions
1.21 Corporate Veterinary Practices
1.22 Not-for-Profit Veterinary Hospitals
1.23 Housecall and Mobile Practices
1.24 Hospice and Palliative Care
1.25 Specialty and Emergency Centers
1.26 Equine Practice Management
1.27 Food Animal Practice Management
1.28 Mixed Animal Practice Management
Section 2 - Administrative Management
2.1 Workplace Management
2.2 Organizational Charts
2.3 Managing People
2.4 Working in Teams
2.5 Motivating the Healthcare Team
2.6 Accountability
2.7 Change Management
2.8 Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
2.9 Moral distress and ethics exhaustion
2.10 Compromise fatigue
2.11 Making Meetings work
2.12 Leadership
2.13 Leadership fatigue
2.14 Implementation: Getting it done
2.15 Emotional Intelligence
2.16 Finding the right fit
2.17 Negotiating 101
2.18 When to hire an office manager/administrator
2.19 Staff performance planning (proactive goal setting)
2.20 Staffing Budgets
2.21 Operations Manuals
2.22 Procedure Manuals
2.23 Enhancing Doctor Productivity
2.24 Enhancing Team Productivity
2.25 Appropriate handling of medical errors
2.26 Changing organizational culture
2.27 Practice Insurance Needs
2.28 Employee Benefit Programs
2.29 Not-for-profit foundations
Section 3 - Human Resources
3.1 Compensation
3.2 Benefits
3.3 Wage and Benefit summaries: the whole package
3.4 Employee Bonus Criteria Design
3.5 Employee-related costs
3.6 Continuing education benefits
3.7 Effective Staff Recruitment
3.8 Screening potential hires
3.9 Staff Orientation (Onboarding and Integration)
3.10 Staff Training
3.11 Structured on-the-job training
3.12 It’s Not Your Job…It’s your responsibility
3.13 Leveraging Staff
3.14 Staff development
3.15 Engaging Staff
3.16 Effective coaching for the exam room
3.17 Mentoring
3.18 Staff scheduling options
3.19 Staff performance evaluations
3.20 Staff Turnover and Retention
3.21 Employee Manuals
3.22 Measuring your HR performance
3.23 Office Politics
3.24 Conflict Resolution
3.25 Dealing with difficult employees
3.26 Effective disciplinary protocols
3.27 Personnel Records
3.28 Terminating Staff
Section 4 - Client Relationship Management
4.1 The Basics of Client Service
4.2 Client Service Strategies
4.3 Exceptional client service
4.4 What clients expect from their veterinarian
4.5 Meeting the needs of pet parents
4.6 Client perception and learning
4.7 The Client’s Buying Journey
4.8 Pet-Specific Care (Personalized Medicine)
4.9 Lifelong Excellence in Health Care
4.10 Personalized Pet Profiles
4.11 Compliance and Adherence
4.12 Creating a client-centered hospital
4.13 Creating a feline-friendly focus and facility
4.14 Developing a fear-free hospital
4.15 Client appointment scheduling
4.16 Client Reminder Systems
4.17 Maintaining regular client contact
4.18 Telephone Service Management
4.19 Measuring Client Satisfaction
4.20 Client Rewards Programs
4.21 Client Retention
4.22 High touch and high tech customer service
4.23 The extended hospital team - making referrals work
4.24 Telehealth
Section 5 - Communication
5.1 Effective client communication
5.2 Identifying client communication styles
5.3 Speaking as a professional
5.4 Making clear client recommendations
5.5 Translating medicalese
5.6 Shared decision making
5.7 Posing client questions effectively (Open-ended inquiry)
5.8 Reflective Listening
5.9 Non-verbal communication
5.10 Empathy
5.11 Harnessing the power of negativity
5.12 Discussing pet-specific care
5.13 Discussing finances
5.14 Discussing behavior
5.15 Discussing diet and nutrition
5.16 Discussing oral health
5.17 Discussing pain management
5.18 Discussing anesthetic risk
5.19 Giving and receiving feedback
5.20 Delivering bad news
5.21 Dealing with an angry client
5.22 Discussing quality of life and end of life issues
5.23 Dealing with a grieving client
5.24 Dealing with a crisis
Section 6 - Marketing Management
6.1 The Big Picture: Marketing, Advertising, Promotion and PR
6.2 Giving Clients what they want most
6.3 Better meeting the needs of existing clients (Internal Marketing)
6.4 Attracting new clients (External marketing)
6.5 Defining marketplace opportunities
6.6 Marketing Plan
6.7 Basic tools of marketing
6.8 Demographic Assessment
6.9 Client and Patient Segmentation
6.10 Target Marketing and Targeted Client Outreach
6.11 Push versus Pull Marketing
6.12 Practice Positioning
6.13 Branding
6.14 Emotional Branding
6.15 Practice Differentiation
6.16 Internal Team Marketing
6.17 Professional Promotion and Publicity
6.18 Client Education Tools
6.19 Paid Advertising
6.20 Personalized marketing
6.21 Client Focus Groups
6.22 Outbound Telephone calls
6.23 Measuring marketing performance
6.24 Dealing with the media
Section 7 - Financial Management
7.1 Time Value of Money
7.2 Financial Statements
7.3 Measures of Liquidity, Solvency, and Profitability
7.4 Getting the most out of your accounting professional
7.5 Analyzing client transactions
7.6 Benchmarking
7.7 Data you should be reviewing regularly
7.8 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
7.9 Making valid comparisons between practices and services
7.10 Compensating Owners in Multi-Owner Practices
7.11 Understanding Practice Profitability
7.12 Pricing strategies (Markup versus Margin)
7.13 Breakeven Analysis
7.14 Activity-based costing and cost allocation
7.15 Internal Accounting Controls
7.16 Return on investment from Practice Ownership
7.17 Perquisites (Perks) of Practice Ownership
7.18 Forgotten costs of doing business in a veterinary hospital
7.19 Capitalization and Depreciation
7.20 Accounting closing processes
7.21 Tax planning
7.22 Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
7.23 Buying a Practice
7.24 Buying into a practice, as a partner
7.25 Practice sales: Planning, Structure, and methods to minimize taxes
7.26 Planning for the sale of a Practice
7.27 Selling to a corporate entity
Section 8 - Cash Management
8.1 Revenue streams in veterinary practice
8.2 Revenue Budgets and Forecasts
8.3 Increasing the top line in practice
8.4 Expenses in veterinary practice
8.5 Managing General and Administrative Expenses
8.6 Improving the bottom line (profit) in practice
8.7 Payroll Management
8.8 Ordering Inventory Economically
8.9 Accounts Receivable issues
8.10 Getting paid for services rendered
8.11 Pet Health Insurance
8.12 Payment (Wellness) Plans
8.13 Third-party Financing
8.14 Digital Wallets
8.15 Cryptocurrencies
8.16 Credit and Collections
8.17 Discounting
8.18 Practice Reinvestment
8.19 Borrowing Money
8.20 Buying versus Leasing
8.21 Controlling Cash flow - Budgeting
8.22 The EFT Payment Process
8.23 Value-add Tax (VAT) and Goods and Services Tax (GST)
8.24 Cash Control: Preventing Embezzlement
Section 9 - Operations Management
9.1 Medical Records and patient documentation
9.2 Patient and Procedure Logs
9.3 Standards of Care and Care Pathways
9.4 Continuity of Care
9.5 Profit Centers
9.6 Value-added analysis
9.7 Continuous Quality Improvement
9.8 Digial Imaging Systems
9.9 Laboratory considerations
9.10 Medical Equipment and fixtures
9.11 Effective Inventory Management
9.12 Inventory Management - Nutritional Products
9.13 Medication Dispensing, Compounding, and Prescribing Practices
9.14 Medication Dispensing, Compounding, and Prescribing -Legal Considerations
9.15 Pharmacy management (as a profit center)
9.16 Retail Sales - The Art and the Science
9.17 Veterinary feed directives
9.18 Adding Emergency Services
9.19 Integration of hospice care into practice
9.20 Kennel Management(as a profit center)
9.21 Waste Management
Section 10 - Information Technology (IT)
10.1 Information technology in Veterinary Medicine
10.2 Selecting Computer hardware
10.3 Selecting Computer Software
10.4 Selecting financial/Accounting Software
10.5 Cloud-based solutions
10.6 Keeping technology in perspective
10.7 Information Security: Backing up and archiving your system
10.8 Cybersecurity and Network Security
10.9 Blockchain
10.10 Paperless Practice
10.11 Electronic Communication - email and texting
10.12 Digital Marketing Strategies
10.13 Web Sites
10.14 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
10.15 Paid online advertising
10.16 Social Media
10.17 Mobile Applications
10.18 Patient Portals
10.19 Protecting and defending your online reputation
10.20 Measuring performance of digital media campaigns
10.21 Technology: Redefining the Client Visit
10.22 Online retail - Making it work
10.23 Virtual team training
10.24 Internet Use Policy
10.25 Digital communication policies for staff
Section 11 - Facility Management, Design and Construction
11.1 Contemplating practice ownership - Getting started
11.2 Building, buying or Leasing?
11.3 Asset Ownership (RE, building, equipment, etc.)
11.4 Financing Basics
11.5 Selecting a site
11.6 How large should a clinic be?
11.7 The construction process and working with architects
11.8 Zoning and Permitting
11.9 Managing Construction Costs
11.10 Practice renovations
11.11 Leasehold improvements
11.12 Designing with the Patient in mind
11.13 Client/Patient Flow
11.14 Integrating technology
11.15 Noise and odor control
11.16 Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
11.17 Flooring
11.18 Sustainable Design for Veterinary Practices
11.19 Referral and Emergency Facilities
11.20 Pet boarding and luxury accommodations
11.21 Large Animal Facilities
Section 12 - Practice Safety
12.1 Basics of Meeting Practice Safety Requirements
12.2 Practice Safety Needs
12.3 Client Safety
12.4 Animal-related injuries at the workplace
12.5 Security issues for hospital and staff
12.6 Developing and Implementing a Safety Plan
12.7 Hospital Safety Manual
12.8 Radiation Safety
12.9 Work-related accidents and Worker’s Compensation
12.10 Emergency Preparedness for Veterinary Professionals
12.11 Emergency Plans
12.12 Controlled Substances
12.13 Adverse drug event reporting and pharmacovigilance
12.14 Suicide in the Veterinary Profession
Section 13 - Legal Issues
13.1 Veterinary Practice Legal Needs and Dealing with Attorneys
13.2 Informed Consent
13.3 Malpractice
13.4 Unprofessional Conduct
13.5 Privacy Policy and Confidentiality
13.6 Identity Theft prevention programs (red flag rules)
13.7 Employment contracts
13.8 Partnership agreements
13.9 Buy/Sell Agreements
13.10 Employees versus Independent Contractors
13.11 Non-competition
13.12 Legal duty to refer
13.13 Extralabel drug use
13.14 Disability Law
13.15 Workplace Harassment
13.16 Fair Labor Standards
13.17 Employment legalities - Bias
13.18 Accommodating Employees with Disabilities
13.19 Ownership versus Guardianship
13.20 Pet Trusts and Wills
13.21 Animal Abandonment
13.22 Animal Cruelty
Section 14 - Planning and Decision Making
14.1 Career Planning
14.2 Professional Development Plans
14.3 Resume + Cover letter (+ sample in appendix)
14.4 Curriculum vitae (+sample in appendix)
14.5 Strategic Planning and Implementation
14.6 Identifying and Solving Problems
14.7 Time Management
14.8 Keeping up with the pace of change
14.9 Mission and Vision Statements
14.10 Business Plans
14.11 Business Entity Structures
14.12 Fractional Practice Ownership
14.13 Determining a practice’s worth
14.14 The Valuation Process
14.15 Practice Value Rules of Thumb
14.16 From associate to owner
14.17 Managers as practice owners
14.18 Risk Management Issues
14.19 Debt Management
14.20 Business contigency planning
14.21 Succession Planning
14.22 Gifting practice ownership
14.23 Retirement Planning
14.24 Your next career
Section 15 - Appendices
15.1 Finding more information on practice management topics
15.2 Sample resume and cover letter
15.3 Curriculum vitae
15.4 Business Plan
15.5 Marketing Plan
15.6 Abbreviations
15.7 Glossary
Index
