Veterinary Medicine Attitudes, Aptitudes and Income

Veterinary Attitudes, Aptitudes and Income
While the fabric of veterinary medicine, along with all of American culture, is being recut, our individual and collective formulas for success must inevitably change. The core of a veterinarian/client/patient relationship may be timeless, but layers around the core are mutating at furious rates.

History may record this as one of the great ironies of the 21^st century. At a time when more money is being spent on animal care and food safety than ever before, veterinary medicine appears to be struggling.

It is self evident that veterinary practitioners will have to make good decisions in order to survive and prosper. What may be less obvious is that many of the daily decisions, which seem so compelling to us now, will become non-issues as time and technology move on. Traditional activities and income sources may evaporate or become heavily diluted faster than we can adapt.

Historically, we have relied on tools such as annually recurring vaccinations, parasite control, and dispensing for much if not most of our income. Looking into the future, it appearsthat much of this activity will be replaced with new approaches and distribution channels.

Technological advances cause more and more management decisions to be “built into” the products we use and recommend. The more that management decisions are “built in”, the less management decision-making is required by the end user of the product. The less management decisions are required to use a product, the more of a commodity the product becomes. Commodity products eventually become widely available. Suppliers of these products are left to differentiate themselves mostly by price.


Veterinary Attitudes, Aptitudes and Income While the fabric of veterinary medicine, along with all of American culture, is being recut, our individual and collective formulas for success must inevitably change. The core of a veterinarian/client/patient relationship may be timeless, but layers around the core are mutating at furious rates. History may record this as one of the great ironies of the 21^st century. At a time when more money is being spent on animal care and food safety than ever before, veterinary medicine appears to be struggling. It is self evident that veterinary practitioners will have to make good decisions in order to survive and prosper. What may be less obvious is that many of the daily decisions, which seem so compelling to us now, will become non-issues as time and technology move on. Traditional activities and income sources may evaporate or become heavily diluted faster than we can adapt. Historically, we have relied on tools such as annually recurring vaccinations, parasite control, and dispensing for much if not most of our income. Looking into the future, it appearsthat much of this activity will be replaced with new approaches and distribution channels. Technological advances cause more and more management decisions to be “built into” the products we use and recommend. The more that management decisions are “built in”, the less management decision-making is required by the end user of the product. The less management decisions are required to use a product, the more of a commodity the product becomes. Commodity products eventually become widely available. Suppliers of these products are left to differentiate themselves mostly by price.		DOXtalks is brought to you by: The Columbus Animal Hospital 2278 39th Ave. Columbus, NE 68601 (402) 563-4151 (800) 722-7088 (402) 564-0472 FAX PRESERVING and ENHANCING The Bond Between You and Your Animal Companions. Hours of Operation: Monday thru Friday 8 AM - 6 PM Saturday 9 AM - NOON Sunday Closed Pet Loss Counseling Click Here Now Consulting With The Entire Veterinary Profession Call or e-mail for more details! Dr. Jim Kramer 2278 39 Avenue Columbus, NE 68601 Email: jim@jimkramer.com Or call Columbus Animal Hospital at 800-722-7088
Long established companies (and their stockholders) expect future revenues to come from products which have not yet been developed or released. These are the products we will be using and recommending. Some futurists believe that within ten years, most American workers will be working in jobs and for companies which do not exist today. Our lives are changing more fundamentally and faster than almost any of us can comprehend. Conclusions from the economic “Mega Study” say that veterinary incomes are so low they are endangering the profession. The study also says we have neglected opportunities to increase demand for our services. Further, the study concludes that our current method of delivery of veterinary services is inefficient; and that veterinarians as a group, lack the necessary business skills to prosper. In ways, it is reminiscent of government-funded studies that show cancer is bad for people or that unmarked containers are a big cause of food spoilage in household refrigerators. Why is this happening now? Life is more competitive due to a combination of global and local factors. Among the global factors causing the world to become more competitive are: 1) Accelerating increases in the amount of knowledge accumulated by mankind. 2) World population growth. 3) Changes in demographics as the world society becomes more fluid. 4) Technological advances. 5) Breakdowns in worldwide communication barriers. 6) An extended period of relative world peace. Among the local factors causing our worlds to become more competitive are: 1) Increasing numbers of veterinary practitioners. 2) Companion animal numbers which are not increasing. 3) The displacing of large animal practitioners by the consolidation of food animal agriculture. 4) The discovery of veterinary medicine by Wall Street where it is seen as “low hanging fruit”. 5) The decrease in farm-raised veterinary students returning to rural areas. 6) Less people being active in professional organizations due to generational and gender trends. 7) More unlicensed people practicing veterinary medicine, and the advent of new disciplines such as chiropractic, acupuncture, home therapy and animal psychics which are challenging laws and tradition. While there is downward pressure on many of our traditional sources of income, it appears our cost of doing business will continue to escalate. The constant need to invest in new technology as it is developed, promises to be one of our greatest challenges. Historically, veterinary education has focused primarily on developing solid practitioners from a medical knowledge point of view. What impact will it make as veterinary schools include more business-oriented courses, and what if veterinary school selection criteria are changed to include candidates with more business aptitude? Are we risking the high esteem our profession enjoys? If veterinarians are unable to generate practice revenues sufficient to maintain overhead costs, little else will matter. We can only provide animal care if we have access to the necessary tools. Becoming more business savvy does not mean we need to apply used car sales tactics. We are scientists. We have been given a diagnosis and a prognosis. Should we reject the diagnosis and search for a second opinion we are comfortable with, ignore the problem and leave the patient untreated, or apply science to affect a good outcome? It is our duty to survive and prosper. Our duty to the animals we are advocates for, to the animal owning public, to our families, to our profession and to ourselves. So where do we look for solace in the new millennium? Has our profession been singled out for economic persecution? No, every person in America is facing the same kind of challenges. Everyone’s lives and livelihoods are changing faster than most people and institutions can adapt. Veterinary income is a direct consequence of our attitudes and aptitudes. The quality of life we enjoy (or fail to enjoy) is a direct consequence of our attitudes and aptitudes as well. Animal owners place the value of our contribution to society much higher than we veterinarians do. When deciding how much a specific amount of our time and effort is worth in dollars our clients and employees perceive us by the way we perceive ourselves. We set the tone, we make the policies, we control the future of our profession. Animals have become elevated as companions in the lives of people. With this increase in importance placed on the companion animal bond comes new opportunity for veterinarians. Lack of creativity and short sighted thinking leads to competing by cutting prices. Our clientele is evermore demanding of thorough work-ups and ever less tolerant of wrong answers. While veterinary medicine is truly a noble profession, we need to make sure that we do not allow compassion to be a smoke screen for what is actually a lack of confidence and assertiveness. We cannot let “ financial compassion” make us heroes to our clients while our profession and our families suffer. Veterinary medicine has undervalued and undersold itself for so long that we’ve gotten very good at doing so. We do not base our charges on our costs. We base our charges on tradition and loose comparisons to what others may be charging, even though those charges are mostly a matter of habit. As traditional sources of income including vaccinations and dispensing decline, we will be forced to base our charges on the actual cost of rendering services. One of the biggest and most positive shifts in the veterinary market is the shift from sickness to wellness. Simply by changing our emphasis, we open a gigantic door of opportunity. All we have to do is offer to help our clients identify and mitigate any condition that could potentially hamper their life experiences with their animal companions. We enter our profession full of passion and excitement. Somehow, we become colder, more distant, fact oriented professionals. Getting in touch with the reasons we became veterinarians in the first place may be a big key to our survival and prosperity. The most highly valued attribute of workers in the new millennium is flexibility. Regardless of the industry, the only security workers will have is their own personal ability to be flexible and learn new skills. It is the same for us. The future of veterinary practitioners has never been brighter or more exciting. Just as our medical capabilities continue to grow so do our opportunities to make profound and positive differences in the lives of our patients, our clients our families and all who look to us for leadership. Copyright © Jan 1, 2001. Jim Kramer DVM. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this article in any form requires express written permission. Back to article list
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