Practice Management

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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28 June

Exploring the Cost of a Veterinary Medical Education

wsvma   |   Practice Management

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges has developed this Cost Comparison Tool to help prospective students further develop a financial plan for veterinary school. Data is presented from all 30 US colleges and 12 Canadian and International colleges. The visualization presents the total cost of attendance (tuition, living expenses, and loan interest accumulation) for 2019 graduates. It includes data about whether students can establish residency for the purpose of playing discounted tuition and the average scholarship awards made to DVM students at each college. The...

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28 June

Avoid Common Pitfalls with Your Employee Benefits: Pitfall No. 4 – Paystubs

wsvma   |   Practice Management

This is the third in a weekly series of four articles by financial expert Mackenzie Martin. The first article focused on pitfalls in employee insurance benefits and article number two outlines retirement plan pitfalls. Article three focused on pitfalls in other employee benefits. PAY STUBS Pitfall #1: What is Your Tax Withholding? Your tax withholding numbers are usually small and hidden somewhere in the corner of your pay stub. Look for something like “M-0" which means married, claiming no deductions, or...

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21 June

Avoid Common Pitfalls with Your Employee Benefits: Pitfall No. 3 – Other Benefits

wsvma   |   Practice Management

This is the third in a weekly series of four articles by financial expert Mackenzie Martin. The first article focused on pitfalls in employee insurance benefits and article number two outlines retirement plan pitfalls. Articles 4 will focus on pitfalls in paystubs. OTHER BENEFITS Pitfall #1: Health Savings Account (HSA) Or Flexible Spending Account (FSA)? Both types of accounts allow you to set aside pre-tax money. A health savings account (HSA) is money specifically set aside for health care, while a Flex...

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14 June

Avoid Common Pitfalls with Your Employee Benefits: Pitfall No. Two -Retirement Plans

wsvma   |   Practice Management

This is the second in a weekly series of four articles by financial expert Mackenzie Martin. The first article focused on pitfalls in employee insurance benefits. Articles 3 and 4 will focus on pitfalls in other types of employee benefits, and pitfalls in paystubs.  RETIREMENT PLANS Pitfall #1: Not Understanding How Employer Contributions Works Example from a small, privately owned, animal hospital:  The practice has a SIMPLE IRA which means there are two options (per the IRS) for matching contributions. The first option...

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