Woof. Sit. Stay. Read.
Do you ever have days where you'd like to roll over and
play dead instead of playing ECP? Maybe you're suffering
from boredom or feel like you're working in a lifeless
practice. Whether you love dogs or not, a little obedience
training never hurts. So I fetched some pointers to share
after observing the way my veterinarian runs his practice.
Who says a DVM can't teach an ECP new tricks?
During the past month I have frequented Patrick
Veterinary Clinic (PVC) with Pearl, my spoiled rotten, full
blooded, almost 11 yr. old Maltese who was diagnosed with
Diabetes. I would highly recommend PVC to any pet owner
because of pure excellence.
PVC is 100% about animals. Always have been and always
will be.
Pointer: Focus on being 100% about patients. They have
and will always need trained ECPs.
PVC operates on a first come, first serve basis with a
sign in sheet. Appointments are not necessary, offered or
scheduled. It's not unusual for the 17 seat waiting area to
be standing room only. You'll find a combination of
neighbors and strangers introducing themselves and their
dogs to each other. Cats are hissing and meowing from their
pet taxis and not really looking to make friends at the
moment. It's interesting to watch how humans relate and
communicate when dogs are in the picture. Throughout the
noisy waiting room there is sense of calmness as clients
patiently wait their turn.
Pointer: First come, first serve may work well for some
ECP practices and it would keep staff from having to hound
patients about keeping their appointments. Although dog
biscuits may not be what it takes for your patients to get
excited there are other treats to choose from. Specialty
coffees and crumb free snacks might be the answer. Bringing
in a Licensed Massage Therapist and offering complimentary
chair massages to patients sounds like a doggone good idea
to me.
Behind the front counter at PVC there's an adequate
number of cool, calm and collected staff members on task to
help. With their happy, smiling faces the atmosphere is
positively pleasant. It's obvious they work well together as
there are no signs of bickering or whispering gossip going
on. Clients are greeted and served promptly when stopping in
to pick up their pets or products. If a dog marks its
territory in the waiting room it is cleaned up immediately
by staff.
Pointer: You must have adequate staffing to take care of
your patients. Not having enough help really bites and will
scar business growth. Priorities no longer exist when your
staff is working in shift survival mode. Tired work is never
effective. Treat staff well and they won't run away and
leave you a bunch of poop to clean up.
PVC believes that trust and comfort are mainstays on both
sides of the medical relationship. They have a way of
putting you at ease immediately no matter what the purpose
of your visit is. When they told me that Pearl had Diabetes
and I would be giving her insulin shots daily, it was not
presented to me as bad news. So it was not taken that way. I
left their practice that day calling it Live-a-betes. It may
have taken PVC many years to master this yet it starts over
everyday.
Pointer: Make sure to verbally find out what your
patient's concerns really are. The patient history form is a
starting point from which you will build on. The more down
to earth you are with your patients the better the outcome.
Don't try to explain conditions or treatments to patients
using opticalridiculitus words. Most patients will easily
get lost and hear womp, womp womp when you use this type of
terminology. You might as well tuck your tail and head to
the doghouse until you train yourself to keep it simple.
At PVC you don't ever have to worry about being judged as
a pet owner. They won't rub your nose in whatever happened
in the past. They treat in the present/today/now and beyond.
They don't treat your dog based on a cost/fee/profit
mentality. I have never seen or heard a client complain
about their bill or the way they were treated at PVC.
Pointer: Stay in the present with your eye care patients.
Let go of any assumptions that you have about the decisions.
If something you have to offer will help the patient have a
better quality of life then don't keep it a secret.
Have you let the dogs out at your practice?
Bulldog - a go getter, good on the phone with insurance
companies
Cocker Spaniel - loyal to a fault and will treat the
business as their own
Mutt - can be placed in different positions and will
flourish
Golden Retriever - won't let the patient get out the door
without the proper eyewear
Maltese - runs circles around others, thinks they are
royalty and may need to be brought back to reality
occasionally
Boston Terrier - gets things done around the office
before the deadline is even determined
Beagle - stays on track and is nosy in a good way, the
person to go to when you want to retrieve information
Great Dane - appreciates attention, commanding demeanor
with gentle personality
Align your staff with job duties that they take great
interest in. Unleash all staff and take some of their advice
and put it into play. They may work like dogs if it is their
idea.
If you find you are having a ruff time fitting in at your
practice then place an ad in the LOST & FOUND section of
a publication.
Woof woof. I am not employed by nor do I have any pad
pocketing financial affiliations with PVC. I just know that
when it comes down to the well being of my best friend I
will only trust the best breed of people.
