Veterinary Industry Summary: December 29–January 4, 2025
Stats from the Veterinary Industry Tracker powered by Vetsource and AVMA
December 29–January 4, 2025
It’s a new year, and more effective inventory management is at the top of the resolution list for many veterinary practice leaders. In this article, guest author Nickolas Biermaier, director of hospital operations at Blue Heron Consulting (BHC), offers tips to help practices get their inventory under control.
Why controlling inventory in the new year is essential to success in your veterinary practice
Inventory control is a goal most hospitals have, but, without having a solid plan in place, this goal is nearly impossible to achieve. Controlling inventory in a veterinary practice is essential for maintaining operational efficiency, ensuring optimal patient care, and managing costs. Effective inventory control helps prevent stockouts and overstocking, which can disrupt operations and lead to financial losses.
Here are a few tips for inventory managers to keep in mind as they work to control their inventory in 2025.
1: Categorize inventory items
One key aspect of inventory management is categorizing items. Veterinary practices often deal with a wide variety of products and companies, from medications and nutrition products to medical and surgical supplies. Classifying these items by type, usage frequency, and expiration date allows for easier tracking and prioritization.
2: Perform regular stock audits
Regular stock audits are crucial for monitoring inventory levels. By conducting periodic physical counts and reconciling them with the records in the practice management software, the veterinary team can identify discrepancies early. This also helps ensure that expired medications or supplies are removed promptly, preventing potential harm to patients.
What happens when you don’t have a practice management software that can keep up? We recommend an audit on inventory with an ABC list build-out. Which products (A) do you use the most, which products (B) do you use often or sometimes, and which products (C) do you rarely use but need to have on the shelf just in case?
3: Implement automated systems
Implementing automated inventory management systems can streamline ordering and tracking. These systems can alert staff when stock is running low, ensuring timely restocking. They can also track product usage trends, helping predict future needs and optimizing order quantities.
4: Determine the items that can be carried online only
Practices don’t have to carry everything onsite. Determine the nutrition, medications, and other products that can be carried only in the practice’s online store to reduce overhead costs and save physical space.
5: Be careful with bulk purchasing
When used appropriately, bulk purchasing or vendor relationships can be beneficial for many practices. However, inventory managers should have a strategy when ordering in bulk to prevent overstocking and unnecessary waste.
6: Train staff
Training staff on proper inventory handling and record-keeping is another critical component of inventory control. By ensuring that team members are familiar with the process and stressing the importance of accurate inventory management, practices can minimize errors and improve overall efficiency.
Don’t miss next month’s blog in the BHC guest blog series, where they’ll focus on providing an exceptional client experience.
And, don’t forget to download Vetsource’s free white paper, “Behavior Shift: Implications of today’s pet owner trends on veterinary medicine in 2025.” The white paper is based on a new Vetsource study examining how shifting trends in pet owner behavior in 2024 will likely impact the veterinary industry over the next year, and how practices can mitigate the effects of these changes.
Check out the Veterinary Industry Tracker for daily stats.
| -7.6% Revenue YoY (Last Week) |
-6.3% Visits YoY (Last Week) |
Because of the way the New Year holiday fell this year, year-over-year veterinary industry revenue was -7.6% last week and visits were -6.3%.
 -15.5%Heartworm YoY |
-12.5% Flea/Tick YoY |
| -7.8% Services YoY |
-6.6% Products YoY |
Year-over-year parasiticide purchases remained in the negative last week, with heartworm at -15.5% and flea/tick at -12.5%, changes from -7.0% and -5.4% respectively prior to the Christmas holiday. Service revenue fell from 2.9% the week before Christmas to -7.8% last week, and product revenue dropped from -2.3% to -6.6% during the same period.
| +2.9% Revenue YoY (Last 12 Months) |
-2.6% Visits YoY (Last 12 Months) |
The rolling 14-day trendline shows sharp declines in revenue and visits since Christmas Eve.
| 5,547 Practices |
2.2M Revenue per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
10.4K Visits per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
Colorado experienced the highest year-over-year revenue growth last week at 6.6%, while Massachusetts edged Connecticut out of the second spot, coming in at 5.9% and 5.7% respectively. While no states saw a positive change in year-over-year visits, Minnesota experienced the lowest decline in visits at -0.1%.
*Numbers are subject to change based on data availability and PIMS adjustments.
Need additional stats? You got it.
The Premium Veterinary Industry Tracker lets you drill into revenue categories, visit types, date ranges, states, and more.
| LEARN MORE » |