Veterinary Industry Summary: October 22–28, 2023
Stats from the Veterinary Industry Tracker powered by Vetsource and AVMA
October 22–28, 2023
Competition in the veterinary space is under the microscope, according to remarks delivered by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, who opened the AVMA Veterinary Business and Economic Forum on October 24.
The FTC is focused on noncompete agreements, mergers, and private equity acquisitions. Khan claimed the commission has been “hearing from veterinarians about how various trends in the industry, including consolidation and financialization and the proliferation of noncompetes, may be undermining the business of veterinary services and making it more difficult to provide quality service.”
When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, the FTC is particularly interested in roll-up strategies, or “…instances in which a private equity firm, or others, may be serially making acquisitions, each one of which may be relatively small and may not raise competition issues, but how in the aggregate these serial acquisitions can still roll up in a market in ways that we believe can be quite harmful to competition,” Khan said.
In July, the FTC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly released draft merger guidelines for public comment.
Noncompete agreements were also a focus of Khan’s Forum remarks. She indicated the FTC has received many comments from healthcare workers, including veterinarians, about how noncompetes have kept them stuck in jobs and forced them to forego better opportunities or uproot their families.
Comments against the prohibiting of noncompetes have also been received by the FTC, claiming the agreements are necessary to protect trade secrets or incentivize investment in employees.
While the FTC proposed a new rule earlier this year that would ban employers from imposing noncompete agreements on their employees, Khan said the proposed rule provides an exception for business owners following the sale of their business. And, the FTC is considering other ways companies can protect legitimate trade secrets, she explained.
The final rule on noncompete agreements is expected next year.
Check out the Veterinary Industry Tracker for daily stats.
| +4.2% Revenue YoY (Last Week) |
-2.0% Visits YoY (Last Week) |
Year-over-year revenue and visits held fairly steady last week. Revenue was up 4.2% from 4.1% the week prior, and visits were -2.0%, a slight decline from -1.6% the previous week.
 -5.7%Heartworm YoY |
 +0.1%Flea/Tick YoY |
| +5.3% Services YoY |
+1.2% Products YoY |
Months of parasiticide protection dispensed improved slightly last week. Year-over-year heartworm was down -5.7% and flea/tick was up 0.1%, improvements from -6.4% and 0.0% respectively the week prior. Year-over-year revenue from services and products held steady last week at 5.3% and 1.2% respectively.
| +6.6% Revenue YoY (Last 12 Months) |
-1.8% Visits YoY (Last 12 Months) |
The rolling 14-day trendline shows year-over-year revenue and visits leveling off after a slight rebound in early October.
| 4,983 Practices |
2.0M Revenue per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
10.5K Visits per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
Massachusetts and North Carolina continued to experience the highest year-over-year revenue growth last week at 12.4% and 11.3% respectively. Tennessee remained the top performer in year-over-year growth in visits at 2.5%.
For daily state-specific stats, see the Premium Veterinary Industry Tracker at VeterinaryAnalytics.com.
*Numbers are subject to change based on data availability and PIMS adjustments.
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