Equine Practice: Improving Through Benchmarking

1. Introduction

How does my practice compare with other practices? After I have received my comparison, what do I do with it? The National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI) through its free equine benchmarking and pricing tools (available online at www.NCVEI.org) not only gives you an instantaneous report on how your practice compares, but it also gives you insight on what methods the top performers are using. The NCVEI provides the roadmap on how to think differently about your practice.

The initial launching of the NCVEI's benchmarking tools was focused primarily on companion animal practices. Subsequently, the NCVEI launched a series of tools exclusively for equine veterinarians. Of the nearly 10,000 veterinary hospitals that have used the NCVEI benchmarking and pricing tools, 1000 are equine-related practices. The NCVEI is actively recruiting more equine practices to become involved. Adoption by larger numbers of practitioners will enhance the quality of the results for veterinarians specializing in equine medicine. This would allow equine practitioners to look at data and equine practices right in their backyards, not just nationally or regionally.

The NCVEI website is available to all American Veterinary Medical Association and American Animal Hospital Association members; users have found the website to be easy and fast to use. You do not need your tax returns, fee lists, or financial statements to get started. Benchmarks provided by NCVEI to veterinarians have data and analytical help to facilitate more effective individual decision making.

Eleven analytical tools are found on the NCVEI website to help equine veterinarians evaluate what they do. The tools range from creating value-oriented prices to understanding the implications of financial, marketing, client satisfaction, and staffing behaviors. Topics include:

• Service pricing
• Determination of the services that provide the most income
• Client services
• Comparison of practice expenses with the rest of the profession
• Analysis of accounts receivable
• Marketing strategies
• Management responsibilities in the practice

A user simply enters a series of data points about their practice (e.g., prices, costs, clients, staff, and operations--either anecdotal or actual information). The models provide immediate feedback by producing graphs and tables showing which quartile the data for the hospital falls for each tool; it also provides illustrations on how to produce the results achieved by those at the highest performance levels.

For example, an NCVEI tool user learned that his practice revenue was down 20% from last year. The analysis received from the exam room page of the NCVEI website enabled this veterinarian to figure out on his own that his revenue per transaction for the clients coming into the hospital had not declined but that the number of new clients was down dramatically. Rather than just "increasing the size of his yellow page ad", he built an educational plan to target new patients.

Building on the success of the companion animal and equine benchmarking tools, the NCVEI is releasing tools for food-animal and mixed-animal practices in 2005. It is generally believed that food-animal practices are becoming less profitable and are having trouble recruiting new veterinarians. The NCVEI hopes to reverse this trend by giving food-animal practitioners access to a variety of self-diagnostic tools and benchmarks that will incorporate best practices from successful food-animal veterinarians across the country.

The NCVEI, a joint venture of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Animal Hospital Association, and Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, has been charged to develop measurable programs to facilitate improvement in the economics of being a veterinarian.