Many people ask me why it matters who owns veterinary hospitals. If veterinarians can still practice good medicine, should it matter if they work for another veterinarian or a non-veterinary owned corporate group?
I strongly believe that veterinary control is crucial for high-quality care as well as an ongoing investment in veterinarians and their staff. Studies in human healthcare have shown that physician-led hospitals have higher quality. A 2011 study showed that the quality scores of the 100 best hospitals for cancer, digestive, and cardiovascular care were 25% higher in physician run than in non-physician run hospitals. The relationship was confirmed when looking at another 12 specialties.
In addition, if veterinarians do not own practices, profits do not help veterinarians pay off their debt and increase their equity. Instead, the profits leave communities and go back to people who really just want a return on investment.
Veterinarians want help with administration and management. However, I believe quality is higher AND profit stays with veterinarians when administrators and managers work for veterinarians rather than veterinarians working for administrators, whose main goal is providing cash flow for investors.
Write it down
When you take your goal and write it down, you take the first step toward making it a reality.
Ten Tips to Thrive in Veterinary Emergency Medicine
Despite the recent craziness, I still believe that veterinary emergency and critical care is an awesome part of the profession. I believe these ten tipes make the difference between feeling crushed and being invigorated.
Stories of Women Veterinary Owners – Arrow Animal Urgent Care
Arrrow Animal Urgent Care, started by two women veterinary school classmates, is providing a much needed service to pets in Puget Sound.
Stories of Women Veterinary Owners: Dr. Addie Reinhard with MentorVet
Dr. Addie Reinhard’s MentorVet is a veterinary centric, veterinary led, and evidence based business that is a bright spot for our profession.
The Problem with Staff Costs
The management dogma, “minimize your staff costs” leads investors to view veterinary technicians as a budget line item. Mission driven staff are likely to leave hospitals where they are viewed a controllable cost rather than the key to high quality care.
Thoughts on ACCES
BluePearl- North Seattle (formerly ACCES) ER Closure About a month ago, my former hospital (ACCES/BluePearl – North Seattle), closed its emergency service due to staffing issues, another victim of the…
Pivot
The business bright spots during COVID have been those entrepeneurs who have remembered their why but found a way to effectively pivot. Here are 3 examples and what we can learn.
How veterinary practices should respond now to COVID-19
I have talked to many veterinarians and the media about how veterinary practices should respond now to COVID-19. Here are 10 actions to do today.
Private Equity – What Veterinarians should know
Many of the veterinary consolidating groups are owned by private equity. Here is what veterinarians should understand about how private equity works.
Thoughts on 10000 hours
The concept of 10,000 hours, from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, is relevant to new veterinarians and practice owners who want to be successful but must deliberate for best impact.