Comments for VMDiva

Comment on Should We Penalize Late Clients? by Teri and the cats of Furrydance

Teri and the cats of Furrydance — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:18:45 +0000

Oh, we’d like to and kind of charge them in our ‘mind till’ lol. When I call appts for the next day and have to leave a message, I always say “If you need to cancel or reschedule this appointment, please give us a call so we can fill the appointment time with a patient on our cancellation list. Sometimes we don’t have a list, but it’s a gentle reminder that our time is valuable, too.

As to emails, for a while we had a statement to the effect of ‘after the initial appt followup/consultation, a fee would be charged for ‘email time’ but the Dr thought that was detering clients from contacting us, so she removed the statement.

Comment on Open Dialogue on Client Interaction Expectations by Teri and the cats of Furrydance

Teri and the cats of Furrydance — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:10:37 +0000

As I get older, my Golden Rule has changed some…being a Veterinary Assistant is my calling, my career but I can also be short on patience and my employer says I sometimes get frustrated with clients that don’t meet my expectations with regards to pet care. But if I think to myself, when dealing with a difficult client, that I only have to spend 20 minutes with them, not go home with them, not marry them and try to send them out the door with some information, a brochure, or info I pulled up online for them (such as the frequently used Cornell Feline Health video links)…all of a sudden I don’t feel short of patience at all.

To help someone take better care of their cat, that is always how I want to end my day.

Comment on Should We Penalize Late Clients? by Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:34:35 +0000

Much of the decision to charge for tardiness ought to be market driven, and a component of this is local competition and the current economy. If I were the only game in town, and times were great, charging a late fee would be fine: the client’s choices are limited and the money is there. However, with lots of local competition and an economic downturn, I frankly must take what I can get and allow for the occasional tardiness. It’s not an ideal situation, but it is what it is.

Charging a late fee in my area would be the lead balloon that you describe, and I’d be faxing the records to another clinic as soon as I finished collecting the fee. I’d rather suck it up and retain the business than slap a fee on an owner (likely an owner with a decent excuse for their tardiness) and have them walk.

Comment on Should We Penalize Late Clients? by VetRN

VetRN — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:51:04 +0000

I always schedule 2 (or 3,4, or 5) depending on how many of my animals are being seen. I don’t take sick pets for well-visits or vacs. And I let the front-desk people know when I schedule if there are issues to be addressed such as bloodwork, fecals, etc. I try to be considerate of my vet’s time and would never try to “sneak” in an extra animal when I have an appointment for another. But my vet(s) also seem to be willing to spend time answering my questions, or addressing an unforseen issue, such as this week, when she discovered a small mass I hadn’t noticed on my 11-yr.-old Lab’s foot, and decided to do a needle aspiration right then to see if it was a cyst or a possible mast-cell tumor. (Luckily only fluid & debris seen, so most likely cystic). I think frequent and considerate clients reap the benefits by the vet being willing to do the little “extras” that make the difference in a so-so vet-client relationship and a great one.

Comment on Should We Penalize Late Clients? by G

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:53:09 +0000

Perhaps late clients make veterinarians run late. But I typically see my vet about 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment–every single time, and I have 3 senior dogs With Issues, so I’m there a lot. I generally see my internist between an hour and 3 hours after my scheduled appointment. I know this, and I show up on time (ever the optimist) but I don’t expect to get out any time near when I “should.”

If doctors or vets start charging a late fee, it should be fair to charge them for MY time, too. If the patients before me who make them late (multiple pets, emergencies, late appointments) are charged for making them late, then it’ll all balance out, right?

Comment on How do I increase my chance of getting into veterinary school? by Kassie

Kassie — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:31:15 +0000

I graduated from a four year college three years ago and after volunteering at an aquarium for a year, I decided to pursue vet school. My grades from college are not exactly that great. I just got accepted into a zoology program at a community college and will attempt to take all the pre-reqs to boost my GPA. Will this help my chances of getting into a vet school if I bring my GPA up and continue working with animals?

Comment on Happy Employees Cultivate Happy Clients by Sean Clare, RVT

Sean Clare, RVT — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:40:04 +0000

I used to work at a 24 hours general practice/specialty/emergency hospital – in addition to good benefits and a generous CE allowance we had bagels and coffee for those who worked on Saturdays and when the weather was nice and things were slow on Sundays the owners would pay for us to have a BBQ.

Unfortunately those veterinary practices seem to be pretty few and far between and with the slow down in business due to the economy a lot of those types of perks are disappearing.

It does mean A LOT when a job well done is acknowledged

Can I come work for you?

Comment on Changing Demographics and Ideas Threaten Veterinary Stalwarts by The Wagging Tail » Blog Archive » Changing Times

The Wagging Tail » Blog Archive » Changing Times — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:49:52 +0000

[...] Many have speculated on how these changes will affect our profession overall. I can not speak for all veterinarians, or even all female veterinarians of course. But I can, as a female veterinarian, give my perspective on some of the issues we as individuals and a profession have before us. [...]

Comment on Happy Employees Cultivate Happy Clients by Brenda Tassava, CVPM

Brenda Tassava, CVPM — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:15:34 +0000

Very nice article! You are so right in that the culture of your practice “internally” affects the culture of your practice from client service and patient care perspectives.

Comment on Happy Employees Cultivate Happy Clients by Galadriel

Galadriel — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:33:25 +0000

Oh yes, staf attitude makes a huge difference.

I’ve been going to the Mayo Clinic for some unusual issues lately, and one thing that has impressed me is that EVERY employee with whom I’ve interacted has been helpful and friendly. Even if I’m in the wrong area, they’re willing to help me there instead of direct me elsewhere. If I want something unusual, they make it work instead of protesting that they don’t know how or it can’t be done. They’re so good they’re almost over-the-top. (The volunteers, now, they tend to look like they’re sucking on a lemon and also tend to be more obstructionist than helpful. Funny that.)

It’s amazing service; I’ve never seen anything like it. I love my vets and local doctors, and their staff are friendly and helpful (it is definitely part of what makes me choose a professional), but this is something on an entirely different scale. It not only makes me eager to go back when I need to (despite the trip, etc), but also to fervently recommend Mayo to anyone who might need it.

It also makes me wonder just what they do for their employees to make them SO pleasant and helpful to their patients.