Veterinary Industry Summary: November 24–30, 2024
Stats from the Veterinary Industry Tracker powered by Vetsource and AVMA
November 24–30, 2024
Focus On Practicing Good Medicine: Increasing Average Doctor Transaction (ADT)
To maximize practice revenue growth in the veterinary industry, it’s crucial to focus on providing the highest standard of care for every patient, every time. In this week’s blog post, guest author Nikolas Biermaier, director of hospital operations at Blue Heron Consulting (BHC), continues BHC’s blog series on growing revenue. Last month’s BHC blog focused on building a dream team. This month, they’re exploring how practicing the best medicine will lead to the best outcomes for everyone.
Emphasizing the best medicine every time
Emphasizing the best medicine every time is an approach that benefits pets while also strengthening the veterinary practice’s reputation. Educating clients on all available options for their pet’s care is crucial to ensure they can make informed decisions. By thoroughly explaining the potential benefits, risks, and outcomes of each option, veterinarians empower clients to choose the best path for their pets.
Additionally, setting realistic expectations about the limitations of treatments ensures that clients are prepared for possible outcomes, reducing misunderstandings and promoting better emotional and practical preparedness. This approach not only enhances the pet’s quality of life but also strengthens the veterinarian-client relationship.
Implementation:
- Create clear protocols for different types of cases and conditions. This will help standardize the level of care and prevent any shortcuts based on perceived cost concerns.
- Offer educational resources to clients, explaining the benefits of certain treatments or diagnostic tests, so they feel empowered to make informed decisions.
Changing the mentality around client finances
Practicing “pocketbook medicine” can often lead to providing suboptimal care. The solution isn’t to shy away from discussing costs but to proactively present treatment options at varying price points, and to emphasize the importance of focusing on making choices that will positively impact the pet’s quality of life.
Implementation:
- Three-step recommendation: Always offer the gold standard first. Then, offer a secondary, more affordable option, if needed. This gives clients autonomy and helps them understand the options available without feeling judged or pressured.
- Use compassion in explaining the cost-to-benefit ratio of procedures. Clients are more likely to accept treatment if they understand why it’s necessary and how it can improve their pet’s health in the long term.
Improving staff morale and retention
Increasing ADT isn’t just about money — it’s about creating an environment where the team feels valued, supported, and motivated. Longer staff retention translates to more experienced, cohesive teams, which ultimately leads to better care for pets and improved operational efficiency.
Implementation:
- Set clear goals for clinical and financial outcomes. Ensure the team understands how their contributions to quality care can drive success.
- Create staff incentives, such as bonuses tied to hospital performance or recognition programs for those who go above and beyond in patient care or customer service.
Building a comprehensive diagnostic plan
Regular diagnostic testing — like blood work, urinalysis, and other screenings — can help catch issues early and prevent expensive treatments later. Offering baseline diagnostics early in a pet’s life or as part of regular wellness checkups can create a culture of proactive care.
Implementation:
- Develop packages that include routine diagnostic tests at a reasonable price, particularly for younger or middle-aged pets.
- Work with your lab provider to create discounted diagnostic bundles. These bundles can be presented to clients as a way to monitor their pet’s health over time while saving them money in the long term.
Focusing on the right medicine for every patient and aligning that with the financial health of the practice can create a more sustainable, rewarding environment for practice staff. By involving the team in the process, offering clear options to clients, and ensuring that the care offered is always in line with the best possible standards, you can improve ADT without compromising your ethical obligations to animal care.
Don’t miss next month’s BHC blog, where we’ll focus on controlling veterinary practice inventory.
A note about the numbers:
As noted in last week’s Industry Summary, Thanksgiving 2023 fell a week before Thanksgiving 2024. This caused a significant spike in the day-to-day comparison in last week’s Industry Summary and the opposite effect in this week’s Industry Summary, effectively “canceling out” the increase. This type of variance is cleaned up and accounted for in the trendline, but not the bar chart. We expect this week’s numbers, which will be reported in next week’s Industry Summary, to return to typical levels.
Check out the Veterinary Industry Tracker for daily stats.
| -24.0% Revenue YoY (Last Week) |
-25.2% Visits YoY (Last Week) |
Because Thanksgiving fell in a different week this year, year-over-year revenue and visits show significant declines to -24.0% and -25.2% respectively. These numbers “canceled out” the previous week’s large increases, and we expect the data will return to typical levels this week. These changes are accounted for in the trendline.
 -33.4%Heartworm YoY |
-31.4% Flea/Tick YoY |
| -23.7% Services YoY |
-25.2% Products YoY |
Again, the Thanksgiving holiday drastically impacted year-over-year data. Heartworm protection purchases fell to -33.4%, while flea/tick was -31.4%, essentially canceling out the previous week’s jumps to 27.9% and 31.4% respectively. Year-over-year service and product revenue also declined sharply, with service revenue at -23.7% and product revenue at -25.2%. These changes are accounted for in the trendline, and we expect this week’s numbers to return to typical levels.
| +3.3% Revenue YoY (Last 12 Months) |
-2.4% Visits YoY (Last 12 Months) |
The rolling 14-day trendline shows a slight uptick in revenue and visits over the past two weeks.
| 5,584 Practices |
2.2M Revenue per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
10.4K Visits per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
Colorado once again saw the most growth in year-over-year revenue at 7.2%, with Connecticut coming in second place at 6.3%. Minnesota was again the only state to see positive growth in year-over-year visits at 0.3%, while Michigan trailed closely behind at -0.2%.
*Numbers are subject to change based on data availability and PIMS adjustments.
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