Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team

pays all invoices promptly and without negativity, and

refers family, friends, and colleagues willingly to the practice.

A typical veterinary practice might subscribe to the theory that all their pet owners should be the “right” pet owners for that particular practice – they follow directions, pay promptly, and refer family friends and colleagues willingly. Anybody who does not fit these criteria may not be a core client for the practice, although they are certainly entitled to compassionate and respectful care (see 7.8Providing Care for Those Unable or Unwilling to Pay). In a perfect world, there would not be any payment discounts except in limited circumstances.

Below are some examples of discount programs.

New patient referral discounts: a new patient referral discount is a good mechanism to reward both staff and current pet owners for the referral of a new patient to the veterinary practice. This form of discount is warranted for the referral of the right patients to the practice. Many times, it is the same small group of clients that are referring to the practice and they should be rewarded as such. The level of discount that needs to be offered can be nominal, such as a reward card or gift certificate for future retail expenditure at the practice. Most pet owners would not refer family, friends, and associates to the practice purely for the discount that is offered. They are doing it because of the care and service that they receive and wish others to enjoy the same. This discount could be termed as a marketing expense and is a relatively inexpensive means to secure new compatible clients.

Senior citizen, military or other “target group” discount: some practices employ senior citizen, military or other discounts targeted to groups of pet owners they wish to attract. While this form of discount is commendable, there is questionable goodwill that is generated from its provision. Tighter control of these forms of programs needs to coincide with the practice's strategic program on discounting, since many are of questionable value.

Daypart strategy: in the restaurant industry, casual dining operators attempt to recapture market share lost to competitors by focusing on certain parts of the day that are weaker in forms of revenue generation and offering discounts on low‐cost, high‐margin items to boost overall revenue and profits. Fast‐food casual restaurant chains use complex analytics to capture those periods of time that may require an additional boost in customer traffic. Using the same strategy, veterinary hospitals could employ the same methods to increase patient flow to slower periods in the schedule, and book low‐cost, high‐margin services in those weaker periods to boost profitability (even while providing a discount). Like hotels offering last‐minute bargain pricing on rooms just to increase their fill rate, veterinary hospitals could offer discounts or special pricing to those pet owners who accept appointments in these slower periods of the schedule.

Preventive care plans: wellness or preventive care plan packages often represent forms of discounting (see 10.17Payment and Wellness Plans). A small discount would be welcome to pet owners adopting preventive care plans, but receiving a discount is not their primary motivation for adopting the plan. Rather, they believe it will (i) facilitate improved overall pet health and (ii) provide a budgeted expenditure for their pet's wellness care year over year.

Empathy or compassion discounts: in lieu of general discounting, each veterinary care provider could be given the discretion to provide a discount when they feel a patient care encounter merits one (i.e., job loss, family tragedy, extenuating circumstances, etc.). There should be established limits for the annual (or quarterly) amount a veterinary care provider can extend, and once that limit is reached, there are no empathy or compassion discounts beyond that point. That will rein in the unlimited discounting some practices employ.

Design written protocols that all staff understand, and the practice owner enforces in allowing discounts.

Provide a set annual limit for all providers to utilize when circumstances warrant.

The plan should attempt to capture new patients as well as reinforce good pet owner behavior.

Rewarding poor pet owner behavior with discounts is generally counterproductive.

Keep the discounting plan consistent with little change between review periods.

1 Lee, J.G. (2015). Dissecting the discount: are incentives worth cultivating new and loyal clients who may be worth 10 times the original investment? http://veterinarybusiness.dvm360.com/dissecting‐discount

2 Smith, D.P. (2016). The Daypart Dance. www.qsrmagazine.com/menu‐innovations/daypart‐dance

3 Stewart, J.K. (2017) Patient discounts – the fine line between leniency and liability. www.medicaleconomics.com/medical‐economics‐blog/patient‐discounts‐fine‐line‐between‐leniency‐and‐liability

Blockchain may be a foreign concept to many, but it is an important topic because it is demonstrating real benefits in many aspects of human healthcare and is bound to gain more prominence in veterinary medicine as well.

Blockchain gained some notoriety with the introduction of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but it has been recognized as having many more applications, including its use in healthcare. It could be particularly useful in pet‐specific care in which various stakeholders could have secure privileges to various aspects of the medical record.

Blockchain:A database that is shared across a network of computers.

Hash code:A form of cryptographic security that, unlike encryption, cannot be reversed or decrypted.

Blockchain just refers to an online database shared across a network of computers, but it differs from other databases in a number of important ways. For security, once a record has been added to the chain by a legitimate entity (such as a veterinary clinic, laboratory, or specialty center), it is very difficult for others to change. For consistency, the network makes frequent checks to ensure that all copies of records are the same across the entire network.

In a blockchain, individual records are bundled together into blocks, and then linked sequentially within the chain. The three parts of the process are thus:

the record

the block

the chain.

For any given transaction, the process involves recording the details of the individual transaction (record), including digital signatures for each party. The computers in the network, called nodes, then verify the details of the record to make sure it is valid. Accepted records are then added to a block and then the block of records is ready to be added to the chain. Each block contains a unique code, called a hash, that identifies where it belongs when assembled into a chain. These hash codes are created by a mathematical formula and contribute to the security of the system. In the final step, the blocks are added to the chain, and the hash codes connect the blocks in a specific order.