ARTICLES
VETERINARY ARTICLES
The goal of The Practice Solution Magazine is to provide practice owners with practice management information that will assist them in achieving success.
Did you hire the wrong person?
A recent survey conducted with practice owners across the US revealed that the number-one management problem they have is personnel issues. Among the issues mentioned by hundreds of owners surveyed were…
Vital Steps for Collecting Money Over the Phone
In any practice, Accounts Receivable exist. Whoever collects money in your organization needs to know that this particular job has a two-fold purpose…
Turn a 40+ hour week into a 30 hour week and stay profitable
Dealing with staff can often be a confusing and complex subject. Certainly if a staff member was overtly unwilling, refusing to do what was expected, gossiping, constantly complaining and so on, this is a staff member you wouldn’t tolerate. On the other hand…
The Responsibilities of Managers and Staff
Dealing with staff can often be a confusing and complex subject. Certainly if a staff member was overtly unwilling, refusing to do what was expected, gossiping, constantly complaining and so on, this is a staff member you wouldn’t tolerate. On the other hand…
Screening Applicants
Finding a new employee is a very time consuming process. To consolidate efforts and streamline the initial stage of the interview and selection process, have all of the applicants who meet the basic criteria…
How to Increase Your Collections
Every doctor has a different idea about what a good collection percentage is as well as how to collect money for services rendered.
Resolving Negativity in the Office
Since dealing with staff bickering and personality conflicts can be a major source of stress in an office, knowing how to deal with it can be extremely useful. When you let employee situations linger too long…
How to Handle Confrontation With Your Staff
A very common confession I hear when I analyze practices is that the executive isn’t good with confrontation and thus lets things slide when they shouldn’t. I want to address this issue for a number of reasons:
Where is Your Net Profit?
Where is your net profit? Did you work hard all week just to earn less money? The bank balance should be going up, not down!
Presenting Treatment Plans – the Do’s and Don’ts
Proper treatment-plan presentation can boom your practice, give your patients the best quality of care and can give you the ability to demonstrate how much you care for your patients. It can also generate more referrals from happy patients and help the practice to grow to its fullest.
Discussing Payment: How to be Both Polite and Effective
You should always assume that a patient/client can afford the recommended treatment when discussing payment with him. Don’t be shy, embarrassed or apologetic about the cost of your services. This can give the appearance that the treatment isn’t worth the fee being charged…
14 Steps to Safeguard Your Practice From Embezzlement
More than likely, you’ve heard the horror story about a colleague whose trusted employee embezzled money from his/her practice. To preclude this from happening to you, there are steps that you could take to minimize the risk of embezzlement.
Tips to Minimize Cancellations and Improve Appointment Control
There is an impression with healthcare practitioners everywhere that all a practice has to do to increase production is to increase the number of new patients. More new patients is often the universal solvent for an under-producing office.
How to increase efficiency, productivity and net profit in a private practice
There is an impression with healthcare practitioners everywhere that all a practice has to do to increase production is to increase the number of new patients. More new patients is often the universal solvent for an under-producing office.
Two Steps You Must Do Prior to a Successful Marketing Campaign
To craft a successful marketing campaign for your practice, you must first conduct some basic research that will start to identify what your marketing plan and promotional pieces will look like and the message they should deliver.
Leadership Attributes and Management Qualities
As a practice owner, you should be asking yourself the following questions objectively:
Am I a good leader?
Do I run from conflict?
Am I able to motivate my staff?
Is my office harmonious or is it filled with conflict?
Does my staff “own” their jobs, or do they just punch in and out?
Do I ever feel that my staff is “holding me hostage”?
Am I running my practice? …or is my practice running me?
What Are the Four Components of Great Service?
There are Four Components of Great Service. Great service to your patients/clients is one of the most important factors required to build a successful and thriving practice. Under the heading of great service, you will find the following key components…
Cutting Down Costs Vs. Increasing Production
Pretty much every owner wishes to increase their net income. Factually, there are only two ways to accomplish that…
A Functioning Office Manager
The primary function of the office manager is to accomplish the goals and purposes of the practice as determined by the owner of the practice. The OM should assist the owner in developing policies that forward the purpose of the business as a whole…
How to Properly Correct Employees in a Private Practice
It would be wonderful if employees never make mistakes and always do a perfect job. But we’re all human so what do you do when a staff member messes up and how do you correct him?
How to Structure a Bonus Plan in a Private Practice
It is very wise to have a bonus plan for staff in operation in your office. If you reward staff for increasing their production and the production of the practice, they will naturally want to continue to do that, and the whole staff will tend to operate much more as a team.
The Importance of Implementing Profitable Communication Systems
One of the key elements in running a successful practice is the actual communication level of the practice.
5 tips to deal with overwhelm in a private practice
With private practice ownership already a challenging environment, how do you cope with the sense of overwhelm?
Providing a Firm Foundation Through Written Office Policy
In order to function most effectively as a team, agreements must be known and adhered to for smooth, efficient coordination and cooperation. This is also known as “policy.” As long as people know what the rules of the activity are, and those guidelines are…
How to Deal with Canceled or Rescheduled Appointments
One of the most common problems doctors want help with is dealing with canceled or rescheduled appointments, you can control this.
12 Steps to Collect Past Due Accounts
Collecting on past due accounts is a function that the Accounts Manager will find herself/himself having to do. Any contact with a patient/client, even under these circumstances, should be…
ACHIEVING BETTER RETENTION AND PATIENT SATISFACTION
More than 88% of consumers today consider credible online reviews equal to a personal referral. Properly managing your online reviews is more important than ever.
The 6 Recovery Strategies for Dealing With the Pandemic
COVID-19 has changed the healthcare profession forever, with practice owners feeling exposed to threats within and outside the clinic. The good news is that, with the right strategies, you can fly past competitors whose slow response time is crippling their ability to deal with issues as they arise.
How Healthcare Marketing Has Changed During COVID
Those patients/clients who do not pay cash at the end of their appointment must be billed through the mail.
5 things you should be doing to get through the Covid 19 crisis
PPP: If you haven’t already applied for PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) do it now. This program allows you to receive 8 weeks worth of funding to go toward your payroll/rent/bills. At the end of the 8 weeks you can apply for loan forgiveness. As long...
Covid-19 and it’s economic impact on private practices
Hello, This is Ken DeRouchie, the editor of The Practice Solution Magazine. On March 11th, I decided that The Practice Solution Magazine needed to shift its focus to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is effecting private practice. This is still an ongoing...
Dealing with a Problem Employee
I received an email from a doctor having a staff problem. I replied to her and thought this might benefit some other people out there. Please see our discussion below: Hi Ken, As an employer, how can you tell your employee to stop his/her: gum smacking,...
How Do You Hold Employees Accountable For Their Positions?
Surveys show that workers are happiest when they are productive and are contributing to the success of the group in which they work. To boost morale, efficiency and longevity of workers, one must: understand the...
Generating New Patients by Using Surveys
How do you market for new patients in a cost efficient and effective manner? Starting with internal marketing is always the best approach, as it produces the most cost effective return, which is of utmost importance in managing a practice. Surveys are...
Your Responsibility to Your Staff
Just as your staff has responsibilities to you and your practice, you likewise have several responsibilities to your practice and staff. The complexity of active leadership can be best understood by breaking it down into its essential and integral parts:...
How to Write a Mission Statement
The owner of a veterinary practice recently asked us about how a mission statement should be written, what it should focus on and what the final objective should be. This example is for this particular veterinary...
How to Guarantee a Satisfactory Retirement Fund
It is never too early in your career to start funding your retirement. You may only be one day out of school, but you should be thinking about and planning out a retirement fund. We have found from our surveys that an ongoing decline of interest in...
Optimize Your Marketing
In today’s economic climate a great deal can be said for the benefits of marketing effectively. There are many mediums for marketing a practice – referrals from existing patients/clients are normally the best and most cost effective means of getting new...
Get Your Promotion Organized: A Promotion and Marketing Calendar – Part 1
Have you ever noticed that you have all sorts of great marketing and promotional ideas that you just never seem to put into action? Do you realize during a staff meeting that those brilliant ideas that captured everyone’s attention and agreement in the...
Marketing and Promotion Ideas for Your Practice
In my nearly 23 years of delivering practice management training and consulting, I’ve found that of all of the marketing techniques available, properly asking for referrals is easily one of the most useful marketing and promotional ideas for your...
Putting New Employees on the Job
Practice owners bring on new employees for a variety of reasons. Often, when practices are undergoing expansion of production and income, they require increased staffing.
Proper Case Presentation and Better Case Acceptance
We have found that doctors can lose thousands of dollars per month because they are unaware of some of the principles associated with proper case presentation and case acceptance. In addition, sometimes the best treatment planning and case presentation...
How Do You Get Your Employees to Think Like You Do?
The Mission Statement A primary responsibility of the owner of a practice or a business is to set the pace and direction for the practice or business by contemplating, defining and establishing exactly what the mission of the practice or business is. By...
Recruiting New Employees
Who, what, when, where and how: It is a 100% certainty that with any practice you will need new employees at some point in time, either to replace employees who leave or to help the practice grow. Where do you find the type of people you want to work...
The Key to Effective Marketing: Surveys
Surveys can save you time and wasted effort. By properly utilizing surveys, you will not be shooting in the dark when you implement a new idea. You will not be left wondering why people are not coming back to your practice. You will know what your public...
Public Relations and Social Responsibility
This article concerns the benefits of getting out of the office and getting actively involved in your community. Whether it’s sponsoring your local little league team, encouraging your area’s children’s museum to do an eye screening or “Celebration of...
How to Set Reminders for Continual Services (Recall)
Whether you are using an automatic reminder system, or it is someone's job function to send out reminders; or a combination of both. The below information will be highly beneficial to increase your appointments scheduled, reactivating clients/patients...
How The Practice Solution Works
Here is a video that we have put together explaining how The Practice Solution works and how wego about compiling practice management articles and resources for our readers.As you can see, everything that we do depends on the help and cooperation of practice owners...
Termination Series:
A Constructive Face-to-Face Termination
This article is a continuation of our termination series. To view the previous article, click here. This series will go over how a termination decision should be made, how the organization handles problems before making a termination and how to convey the news for a...
Termination Series:
Guidelines to Follow When Terminating
This article is a continuation of our termination series. To view the previous article, click here. This series will go over how a termination decision should be made, how the organization handles problems before making a termination and how to convey the news for a...
Termination Series:
Making the Decision. Should I Fire My Employee?
This series will go over how a termination decision should be made, how the organization handles problems before making a termination and how to convey the news for a constructive face-to-face termination. There are specific guidelines when terminating because all of...
The Underrated Business Card
Business cards don’t seem to be in vogue as of recently, however they are still a highly effective
Reactivating Patients: How to Get Them Back
If you were to calculate the value of each patient or client visit and multiply that by the number of patients or clients you have not seen for 6 months
How Valuable is that Employee?
Performance evaluation is viewed as a process to ensure a high quality of service
Marketing: Why are Surveys Important to Your Practice?
Are you as confident in your ability to get a steady flow of new patients into your practice as you are in your ability to provide high quality technical care? You should know that successful marketing has a technology that, when applied correctly, will...
How to take ownership of your Google+ and Yelp pages
How to take ownership of your Google+ and Yelp pages Over the past few months we’ve done several articles about consumer reviews and their importance. A question I often get asked has to do with claiming one’s business page in Google+ and Yelp. Many practice owners...
The Truth About Referral Marketing
The Truth About Referral Marketing In my nearly 23 years of delivering practice management training and consulting, I’ve found that of all of the marketing techniques available, properly asking for referrals is easily the most useful. There are several reasons for...
[ Video ] Your Google and Yelp Reviews
More than 88% of consumers today consider credible online reviews equal to a personal referral. Properly managing your online reviews is more important than ever.
Getting Your Staff on the Same Page
This article is a continuation of Critical Practice Foundations. If you haven’t done so yet, we recommend reading the first article to get a better context. The Staff Meeting One very important activity you, as the owner, should implement is a...
Critical Practice Foundations
Most doctors, when starting their practices, miss some of the basic actions that should be established prior to opening. An owner of a healthcare practice should always, as a first step, work out the following basics:
Real Office Policy Examples and Checklist
Below is a list of items that should be included in any basic office policy or policies: Patient Relations Sexual Harassment Orientation and Training Work Hours Fringe Benefits Solicitation Equal Opportunity Statement Terms of At-Will Employment...
Forming Office Policy
All doctors are extremely well trained in their profession. Unfortunately, very few doctors are trained in business or employee handbook policy creation and their appropriate implementation.
Internal and External Marketing
There are two areas in a practice that are targeted when marketing your practice. The first is internal; the second is external. “Internal” deals with dissemination and promotion within your practice and to already-established patients. It includes things such as:
Guest column: Coping With Conflict – Part Two
A Layperson’s guide to resolving conflict in the office By Daniel A. Bobrow, MBA President, American Dental Company Part two in a series of two articles In last issue’s article, we discussed models and tenets used to resolve conflict. In this part, I’ll go over the...
PROFILE: EZEKIAL THOMAS, DVM
PRACTICE: RIVER FOREST ANIMAL HOSPITAL LOCATION: SARASOTA, FLORIDA Handling National Chain Competition by Learning How to Run a Business. Dr. Ezekial (Zeke) Thomas has been in practice for 46 years. He is a small animal vet and works with exotics such as reptiles and...
When the Doctor is Away
How you keep the office running If you as the doctor/owner are planning to be away from the office – even for a day or two – the staff has some free time, too. The doctor/owner or office manager can make lists of things that need to be done. Make sure that if your...
Veterinary Foundation Offers Grants To Cover Costs
Veterinary Foundation Offers Grants To Cover Costs Of Care After Hurricanes The American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) is urging veterinarians to apply for grants of up to $2,000 to cover costs incurred by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Eligible applicants are...
Project Could Help Pets Serve As Disease Watchdogs
A national surveillance network that uses the medical records of companion animals could help prepare for a wide variety of emerging disease threats to humans and animals, including avian influenza, according to veterinary scientists at Purdue University’s School of...
AMA Joins AVMA Initiative to Strengthen Medicine
AMA Joins AVMA ‘One Health’ Initiative to Strengthen Medicine by Working Together The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) announced today that the American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted a resolution calling for collaboration on a One Health...
The Benefits of Regular Practice Newsletters
Marketing is a vital part of the management of any business, whether a health care practice or any business in general. Implementing successful marketing actions that help increase the number of new patients/clients as well as help facilitate the retention of existing...
Veterinary Medicine Contributes to New England Economy
Veterinary Medicine Contributes $3.3 Billion to New England Economy Newswise – Veterinary medicine contributes $3.3 billion to the economies of New England-and the region faces a shortage of as many as 658 veterinarians by 2014, according to a study released today by...
NC State Offers Canine Bone Marrow Transplants
Newswise – Dogs suffering from lymphoma will be able to receive the same type of medical treatment as their human counterparts, as North Carolina State University becomes the first university in the nation to offer canine bone marrow transplants in a clinical setting....
Veterinary Researcher Studying Brain Tumors
Veterinary Researcher Studying Brain Tumors in People, Animals Newswise – A veterinary neurologist on faculty in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech has been awarded funding from the Wake Forest University Translational...
Search Engine Marketing for Practices
(Article 2 of 4 Part Series) By Lisa Thayer, GoldfishNetwork.com “Spiders and crawlers and bots…oh my!” – Two views of the same website One of the most challenging aspects of optimizing a website is that there are two audiences to appeal to: 1) standard website users...
Cruel Deaths in Mexico a Result of…
Closing U.S. Horse Processing Plants Efforts to shut down horse processing plants in the United States have led to increased abandonment and neglect of horses in this country and the inhumane death of horses in Mexico, according to the American Veterinary Medical...
Veterinary Advisory: Canine Influenza Virus
University of Florida researchers report that outbreaks of canine influenza virus, which causes an acute respiratory infection, have been identified in dogs in shelters, humane societies, boarding facilities and veterinary clinics in Florida, predominantly in Broward,...
Root Canals Just as Effective as Dental Implants
Dentists Emphasize Saving Natural Teeth and Patient-Specific Considerations For patients torn between the best way to treat a compromised tooth, the choice just got clearer. A recent systematic review comparing two of the most common treatment options – root canals...
THE GOVERNMENT HELPS OUT ON NEW EQUIPMENT PURCHASES
Taking Advantage of the IRS Section 179 Write-Off Written by Brad Beck, Vice President Bank of America Practice Solutions What did you think the chances were that a banker would not start anything that is printed on paper without a disclaimer? Well if you took the...
Help Stop This Deadly Disease
BATAVIA, Ill.-(Business Wire)-April 2, 2009 – According to a recent study conducted by The American Heartworm Society (AHS), heartworm disease continues to be a major health concern throughout the United States. The study indicates the need to continue to raise...
Are Online Pet Drug Companies Stealing Your Business?
How to effectively compete with the internet drug companies There are many companies online that are severely undercutting the profits of veterinarians who would normally be filling the prescriptions. This may or may not be currently affecting your practice but, in...
Veterinary Cardiologist Discovers Gene for Heart Disease
WSU veterinary cardiologist Kathryn M. Meurs discovered a mutant gene in the Boxer breed that causes a type of heart disease that can be fatal in animals and humans. The disease is called Boxer cardiomyopathy. The more formal term is arrhythmogenic right ventricular...
Employers Pay High Price for Vision Disorders
Uncorrected Vision Problems Contribute to Decreased Employee Performance Vision disorders carry a hefty price tag for employers and result in a marked decrease in productivity costing businesses an estimated $8 billion annually, according to a new report released by...
Female Vets at Risk of Miscarriage from Anaesthetic Gases and Pestic
Female vets run twice the risk of miscarriage as a result of exposure to anaesthetic gases and pesticides, suggests a study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The findings prompt the authors to call for young female vets to be more clearly advised...
Diagnostic Lab Is Kansas’ First Line Of Defense
Veterinary Diagnostic Lab Is Kansas’ First Line Of Defense Against Bird Flu If the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza ever comes to Kansas, diagnosticians at Kansas State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will be the first to know. The lab, which...
Guide For Veterinarians
Includes Unusual Species Adopted Into Human Households And Potential Hazards To Human Health Ferrets, frogs and finches are becoming more common as pets, but the list of unusual species adopted into human households now includes some of the most exotic creatures on...
From a Hyundai to the AVMA
Dr. Wendy Emerson Practice: Putnam Veterinary Clinic Location: Topsfield, MA From a Hyundai to the AVMA Dr. Wendy Emerson is a very dedicated veterinarian, both to her practice and to the profession as a whole. After graduating from Tufts University’s School of...
New Hope for Pets with Chronic Kidney Disease
A new product available only through veterinarians has been shown to reduce the toxins that build-up in dogs and cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and may help improve the quality of life for affected pets – and possibly extend their longevity. “By removing...
Veterinarian Shortage Poses Threat to Industry, Society
Projected Serious Food Supply Veterinarian Shortage Poses Threat to Industry, Society - America’s livestock and meat industries have one of the world’s best health and safety records, but that status may be threatened in the years ahead because of a projected severe...
Contagious Cancer In Dogs Confirmed
Origins Traced To Wolves Centuries Ago A new study in the journal Cell provides evidence that a form of cancer afflicting dogs has spread from one individual to another by the transmission of the tumor cells themselves. The disease demonstrates how a cancer cell can...
Zoonotic disease control strategies
Zoonotic disease control strategies discussed at 2006 ACVIM forum As global security issues surrounding mad cow disease, avian influenza and the West Nile virus increase, veterinarians across the globe gathered in Louisville, Ky., at the 2006 ACVIM Forum, to discuss...
Guest column: Coping With Conflict
A Layperson’s guide to resolving conflict in the office By Daniel A. Bobrow, MBA President, American Dental Company Part one in a series of two articles Conflict is inevitable. As long as people possess the capacity for independent thought, there will be differences...
Study Shows Quality of Life For Both Dogs and Their Owners
Can Improve When They Buddy Up To Beat The Battle of the Bulge A Combined Dog/Owner Partnership Can Help Both Succeed in a Weight Loss Program A study by Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Hill’s Pet Nutrition, “The People and Pets Exercising Together (P-PET)”...
Exposure Trial Shows ALLERCA Cat is Hypoallergenic
Allergy Sufferers Can Now Enjoy Cat Ownership Dr. Sheldon Spector, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine, has designed a protocol and conducted an independent exposure trial that attests the hypoallergenic nature of the ALLERCA GD cat, the...
US Prepares for Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu in Wild Birds
Avian Influenza (AI) — the bird flu — is a disease caused by a virus that infects domestic poultry and wild birds (geese and ducks and shorebirds). Each year, there is a bird flu season just as there is for humans and, as with people, some forms of the flu are worse...
Natural Treatments Offer Best Hope For Cats With Feline AIDS
A new book offers hope for cats diagnosed with Feline AIDS, a disease once thought to be untreatable. Feline AIDS: A Pet Owner’s Guide by Thomas Hapka explains the Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and outlines effective treatment strategies. Often confused with HIV...
Avian Influenza Strains Continue Growing
Pandemic Potential at High Risk Beginning in late July 2005, official reports to the OIE (World Organisation of Animal Health) from government authorities indicate that the H5N1 virus has expanded its geographical range. Both Russia and Kazakhstan reported outbreaks...
Veterinary Foundation Offers Grants To Cover Costs
Veterinary Foundation Offers Grants To Cover Costs Of Care After Hurricanes The American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) is urging veterinarians to apply for grants of up to $2,000 to cover costs incurred by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Eligible applicants are...
Getting New Patients: A Practice Management Mantra
Doctors all over the country and the world are still trying to figure out, “How can I get more new patients?” The quest for new patients or customers is not indigenous to the medical professions. Every business is looking to find more people to buy their wares or sell...
Successful Treatment for Canine Spinal Injuries
Lab tests have shown that an injection of a liquid polymer known as polyethylene glycol (PEG), if administered within 72 hours of serious spinal injury, can prevent most dogs from suffering permanent spinal damage. Even when the spine is initially damaged to the point...
Vets Keep Close Watch on Canine Disease
Veterinarians Keep Close Watch on Potentially Deadly Canine Disease – New Website Profiles the Latest Info on Recent Outbreak of Leptospirosis - From Boston and Buffalo, to Chicago, Denver, Houston and San Diego, veterinarians across the country are keeping a close...
West Nile Virus Remains Threat For Unprotected Horses
1,341 U.S. Cases Reported in 2004: Equine Health Experts Urge Vaccination OVERLAND PARK, Kan./PRNewswire/ — Despite extensive media coverage of equine West Nile virus — as well as the availability of a vaccine for horses — the potentially deadly disease continues to...
California VMA Files Lawsuit Against City of West Hollywood
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA /PRNewswire/ — The California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) filed a lawsuit against the City of West Hollywood in Los Angeles County Superior Court in March challenging the city’s ban on animal declawing. The CVMA contends the ordinance —...
Noah’s Ark Veterinarians International to Provide Assistance
Noah’s Ark Veterinarians International will be providing emergency veterinary assistance to animal victims. In the wake of the tsunami devastation, Sri Lanka is under an increased threat of disease outbreaks. Noah’s Ark Veterinarians International (NOAV), a newly...
PROFILE: Dr. Kathleen Bartos and Lou Bartos
How did Halifax Veterinary Clinic go from $0 in collections to over $1 million a year? PROFILE Dr. Kathleen Bartos and Lou Bartos Practice: Halifax Veterinary Clinic Location: Port Orange, Florida A general small animal veterinarian, who specializes in veterinary...