Practice Management

22 November

Five Steps to Ensure New Employees Start Off on the Right Foot

wsvma   |   Practice Management

A study published in the Academy of Management Journal found that the first 90 days of employment, often referred to as the probationary period, is pivotal for building rapport with the company, management, and coworkers. When support levels are high from the team and leaders, new hires often have more positive attitudes about their jobs and worked harder. When support and direction aren’t offered, the opposite occurs, leading to unhappy and unproductive employees who stay at their jobs no longer...

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15 November

Federal overtime pay rule could affect some veterinary practices

wsvma   |   Practice Management

A new federal rule will extend overtime pay requirements to more workers as of January 1, 2020. Some veterinary practices and employees could be affected by the U.S. Department of Labor rule. The rule raises the earnings thresholds for workers to be exempted from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements that workers be paid overtime pay of at least 1.5 times their regular pay rate for any hours worked in excess of a 40-hour workweek. The Department of Labor estimates that 1.3...

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15 November

Having trouble finding a veterinarian to hire? Consider an employer student loan repayment program

wsvma   |   Practice Management

Paycor.com examined the benefits of employer repayment programs in “Employer Student Loan Repayment Program: 5 Tips for 2020” stating, “Companies that offer student loan debt relief can more easily attract and retain talent. In fact, studies indicate that 86% of workers between the ages of 22 and 33 would commit to an employer for five years if the employer offered a student loan repayment program.” The article also provides advice to employees to help repay their student loans and also...

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08 November

Forward Booking is Best Practice for Your Practice

wsvma   |   Practice Management

Forward Booking is scheduling ALL patients’ next appointments before they leave your practice, regardless of the reason for their current visit. Many veterinary practices do a great job of this when it comes to medical rechecks. However, the veterinary profession often falls short when it comes to forward booking preventive healthcare checkups. According to the 2014 Veterinary Hospital Managers Association Insiders’ Insights Report and the 2013 American Animal Hospital Association State of the Industry Report, less than 3% of practices...

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11 October

Shine a Spotlight on Veterinary Technicians – An Update from the AVMA

wsvma   |   Practice Management

National Veterinary Technician Week is just around the corner (October 13-19) and it provides an excellent opportunity to highlight the important work done by veterinary technicians. One of the areas identified by the AVMA House of Delegates during recent meetings was the need for greater recognition of veterinary technicians. Well-utilized veterinary technicians have a positive impact on patient care, client service, quality of medicine, and quality of life for the veterinary health care team. The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in...

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16 August

Go Team! Management Tips for Success

wsvma   |   Practice Management

Managing staff is challenging for many practice owners and managers. Here are three management tips that have had a great impact on the success of many practices: Value staff ideas. It’s important to provide an environment that encourages ideas and feedback from staff. Staff members work in the trenches, interacting with clients all day, so they know what clients want. Make the time to ask the team what they think about the business side of the practice and listen to...

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09 August

Washington Department of Health and DEA warning practitioners about continuing DEA scams

wsvma   |   Practice Management

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urges its DEA-registered practitioners and the public to be cautious of telephone calls from criminals posing as DEA or other law enforcement personnel threatening arrest and prosecution for supposed violations of federal drug laws or involvement in drug-trafficking activities. DOH and the DEA continues to receive reports from the general public and practitioners indicating that they have received calls threatening legal action if an exorbitant fine is not...

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26 July

Motivate your clients to embrace preventive care

wsvma   |   Practice Management

Research on pet owners shows that they are willing to make changes and embrace preventive healthcare visits, if they know it will benefit their pets. Unfortunately, research also shows that many pet owners do not completely understand the importance of preventive pet healthcare. For pet owners to find value in the recommendations of veterinary professionals and be motivated by their advice, there must be effective communication between the healthcare team and pet owners. Partners for Healthy Pets can help! Learn effective ways...

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19 July

Maple Valley area veterinary hospital suffers break-in

wsvma   |   Practice Management

At three a.m. Saturday, July 13, a thief, wearing a stocking hat and scarf to cover his face, threw a large rock through the glass door of the Wilderness Animal Hospital in Maple Valley and entered the hospital. He walked into the treatment area, then disappeared from the camera view. Two and a half minutes later, he walked out with over $1,500 of controlled drugs and $1,500 of injections from the refrigerator. Fortunately, the pets that were hospitalized overnight weren’t...

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28 June

From pearly whites to furry paws – tips from the dental profession

wsvma   |   Practice Management

When considering ways to improve, it never hurts to look outside the veterinary profession for ideas.  Dental practices share many challenges with veterinary hospitals, including continually attracting new patients, creating the best first impressions, implementing new services, hiring and retaining great staff, making costly recommendations and leading the practice team. We recently spoke to some successful dental practice consultants and dentists, who shared the following five tips which can easily be applied in the veterinary profession: Think “RISE” to remember...

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