I apologize for getting behind in my communications and have a lot to talk about since my last.  First, I want to commend some very outstanding ladies who work at North Ridge Veterinary Hospital in Madison, Ohio.  To Debbie Heaven, Pam Nevison, Judy Dunkin, Brenda Conrad and any others who I have inadvertently missed I extend major kudos for the Chinese auction and 50/50 raffle that you all conducted at North Ridge for the volunteer fire companies in the area.  With over $5,000 raised on May 16, oxygen masks and tubing are being purchased for many local fire companies so they will have the equipment to resuscitate and support animals caught in home and other fires.  Because of a major disaster recently in the area wherein a number of family pets were lost it became known that no such equipment existed.  With the energy and determination of this wonderful group of ladies those fire trucks will now be properly equipped to fire professionals dealing with inhalation issues with companion pets.  There is not enough positive to be said about this effort!

In mid May I attended a symposium put on by Live Oak Bank in Austin, TX and was intrigued by the small group meeting to discuss the state of our profession and its direction.  The meeting was moderated by Dr. Glenn Hoffsis, the Dean of the Florida Veterinary School.  Dean Hoffsis made the opening comments and he sees things through the eyes of an educator but was clearly less academic than most of the Deans I have spoken to over the years.  He is a great guy and a good listener.  He was followed by Karen Felsted, a CPA first followed by a DVM degree with practice experience and a passion for doing what we do right.  Karen has headed the joint industry task force referred to as NCVEI (National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues), a think tank analyzing veterinary economic issues.  Her presentation was a follow-up to the material released in early January by the Brakke Consulting Group out of Dallas, Texas but it added depth to what I had already seen and seeing it live gave it new context.

First and foremost veterinary medicine as we know it is healthy and will be around a long time.  With that said there was not one person there who did not have comments regarding the over production of veterinarians in this country.  The teaching institutions say we need more as that is the only way they get NIH and other federal funding in addition to rising tuition dollars.  The market place is screaming for less active veterinarians saying that the average graduating senior from an American veterinary college has a decreased opportunity for work on graduation.  In addition the average salary for a graduating senior is $57,000 and the average debt carried by that graduating senior is $133,000.  These are interesting elements of a profession undergoing change that has been further fueled by the economy.

Some other points made at this meeting caught my attention and speak to the disconnect I see between the direction of the profession and the needs, wants and desires of the pet owning client.  We at Pet Partners believe we are on the cutting edge of better understanding the client and are taking numerous steps to better connect with their needs in these changing times.  One must be also tuned into the training that goes into any change within the environment of a traditional neighborhood practice.  Responding to client needs without giving services away is a major challenge for the staff.  We work on their understanding of the business model every day and try to make sure they understand where their pay comes from.  It sounds simple but time has taught us that connection should not be taken for granted.

I learned that social media is of major interest to our clients and on the whole 80% of the pet owning clients believe this technology is a great way of communicating with their veterinarians or veterinary hospital.  On the other hand only 20% of veterinarians polled thought their clients had an interest in social media.  This demonstrates another disconnect between our profession and the client.  Price is an issue in over 50% of the pet owning population.  In 1999 a very famous study completed by the accounting/consulting firm KPMG made strong statements that pricing in the veterinary profession was elastic and almost all services were underpriced and undervalued.  We have done little to establish value since that study but we have increased prices considerably.  This goes without saying that costs have risen also.  And once the recession hit us the way it did we were unprepared for the consequences.  People are price sensitive but more importantly they are value sensitive.  In our services and in everything we have done in the past two years we as consumers will not spend the money if we do not see the value.  This brings us to pet insurance, packaged diagnostic and treatment plans for the client and payment plans for the unexpected expense that goes beyond the family budget.  We need to learn how to manage these areas and through state of the art and timely merchandizing better establish the value of what we do.  We are at an evolutionary crossroads in veterinary medicine and it is ours to fix or restore.

I have many more thoughts regarding where we in veterinary medicine are going and I will be happy to share those with you in private if you would like.  In the end we all need to be on the cutting edge of the information and we need our doctors and staffs to be able to make a decent wage that represents the time and investment they have made to become veterinarians and veterinary support staff members.  Producing more veterinary graduates within the US and certifying more schools outside the US may not be in the best interest of the profession nor the family pet.  But I am sure this will be worked out in time if we have the awareness and desire to get there.

Hope your Memorial Day Holiday was filled with fun and family.  Thanks for stopping by.

Best regards,

Ted A Sprinkle, Jr. DVM
CEO Pet Partners, LLC