Veterinary compliance

What would happen if you fired all of your non-compliant clients?

What percentage of your clients are currently 100% compliant? Up to date on all recommended vaccines: current on heartworm testing and fecals? If you recommend semi-annual exams and bloodwork for all of your patients or certain age cohorts, how many of your clients are 100% compliant?

Now, look at all of your non-compliant clients. Look at all the three year gaps from the "rabies only" crowd, and the dogs and cats you just know are begging to come in heartworm positive because their owners don't want to pony up $10 a month for prevention. Imagine if all of these clients just disappeared. How many days would you have to work now? Imagine all the free time!

Is 100% owner compliance on recommended items the goal in your hospital? If it isn't then, I suppose I have ask, why not? Why are you recommending things at all if you don't think it applies to both your good and 'bad' clients? If 100% compliance is your goal, what percentage of your clients would you have to fire to reach that goal?

I bet it's high - really high, scary high.

So, maybe you need to look at how you're discussing the things that you think are really important. What if you announced at the next staff meeting that you were going to purge all of the clients who are not compliant? Would you have to purge any of your employees? Yikes! Don't tell me you'd have to fire yourself!

Either you believe in something, or you don't. If you do, then you should believe in it enough to demand that every pet is on it. Not every pet whose owner is easy to talk to, or every pet whose owner isn't a jerk, or every owner you think can pay for it, or every owner that you have otherwise labeled as undeserving of your best medicine.

Look at your compliance today. Then tell your staff you believe in compliance so strongly that you want 100% of your clients to be current on all recommended services. Then have your staff keep a list in the pharmacy or wherever they loiter in between rooms. On the list, have your staff write the names of all the clients you will have to fire with the initials of the doc and tech who saw the case. After every wellness visit, your team will either have to create compliance, or write the name on the list.  Every time you pass the list ask why you'll have to fire someone, you really like him.

You'll never achieve 100% compliance, just like airlines will never achieve 100% of all flights landing without incident. But, isn't it seriously important to try?