Veterinary Industry Summary: September 22–28, 2024
Stats from the Veterinary Industry Tracker powered by Vetsource and AVMA
September 22–28, 2024
Growing revenue in veterinary hospitals has recently become more challenging. Looking at veterinary industry trends, visits continue to decrease as revenue for veterinary practices has waned. And last week, Hurricane Helene’s wrath didn’t help matters, especially in states like South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. Our thoughts are with the people, pets, and veterinary practices affected by this deadly storm.
Over the next few months, guest authors Jason Maag, Blue Heron Consulting’s chief growth officer, and the Blue Heron Consulting coaching team will take a deeper look into the challenges practices face driving bottom-line revenue and provide some high-level solutions to those challenges. Here’s a sneak peek of the tips coming in their upcoming blog series:
Build your dream team
Running a successful practice starts with people. So many practices can drive much more money to the bottom line if they focus on hiring and developing the right team. A highly productive team can drive significant revenue growth. Also, the revenue cost of a less-than-excellent team can be high. In an upcoming article, we will explore how to identify top-notch talent and how to develop that talent to become the “A” players in your practice. From developing a solid hiring protocol and finding the right tools to foster your team’s development to building a vibrant culture, there are many actions you can take to build the right team to achieve your goals.
Focus on practicing good medicine: Increasing your average doctor transaction (ADT)
Improving every doctor’s productivity is key to improving revenue. This can usually be achieved through some simple behavior modifications from the doctors and the support staff. In this upcoming article, we will explore some of the tactics we use to maximize the revenue your associates bring in. The best part of pulling this lever is that it usually equates to your team practicing the best medicine.
Control your inventory
Improperly managing inventory in your veterinary practice can not only create chaos, it can cost your business a lot of money. Often taking a few simple steps to organize your inventory management processes can add thousands of dollars to your bottom line. In this upcoming article, we will share some of the tactics we use to bring hospitals’ cost of goods under control and to maintain the integrity of their inventory.
Provide an exceptional client experience
Most go into the business of veterinary medicine because of their passion for helping pets. But to help more pets, hospitals must focus on providing an experience their clients will remember. An outstanding client experience is essential to a practice’s success. Providing top-notch service for your clients will not only result in increased visits, but it will also help your team morale and encourage best medicine by improving compliance. Ultimately, it will drive more revenue straight to the bottom line. In this article, we will be sharing ways to attract new customers by building an online presence and improving client satisfaction scores (which leads to increased client referrals).
Here, we’ve outlined just a few of the levers that can be pulled to improve top- and bottom-line revenue in a practice. Over the next few months, we will be diving deeper into each. Please look out for the first installment, “Building your Dream Team,” coming November 6!
Check out the Veterinary Industry Tracker for daily stats.
| -1.2% Revenue YoY (Last Week) |
-6.3% Visits YoY (Last Week) |
Hurricane Helene took a toll on the veterinary industry last week, drastically affecting revenue and visits in several southeastern states. South Carolina was hit the hardest, with revenue dropping -38% between September 26 and September 28. Overall, year-over-year revenue last week was -1.2%, a fall from the previous week’s 3.5%. Year-over-year visits declined from -1.7% the week prior to -6.3% last week.
 -12.5%Heartworm YoY |
-12.2% Flea/Tick YoY |
 +0.4%Services YoY |
-5.9% Products YoY |
Year-over-year parasiticide protection also tumbled last week. Heartworm protection fell from -5.4% to -12.5% and flea/tick declined from -4.1% to -12.2%. Year-over-year service revenue was 0.4% and product revenue was -5.9%, changes from the previous week’s 4.9% and -0.9% respectively.
| +3.3% Revenue YoY (Last 12 Months) |
-2.5% Visits YoY (Last 12 Months) |
The rolling 14-day trendline showed revenue and visits remaining fairly consistent since late August.
| 5,426 Practices |
2.1M Revenue per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
10.4K Visits per Practice (Last 12 Months) |
Last week, Colorado and Connecticut continued to experience the most growth in year-over-year revenue, with Colorado at 6.6% and Connecticut at 6.4%. While no states enjoyed positive growth in year-over-year visits, Minnesota and Illinois saw the smallest declines at -0.1% and -0.5% respectively.
*Numbers are subject to change based on data availability and PIMS adjustments.
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