The 5 Most Important Practice Management Duties

For much of modern veterinary practice, we’ve been fortunate to have exceptional cash flow. Rarely did we have to worry about paying the mortgage, much less payroll. This allowed us to become complacent in our business skills and stewardship. “Practice management” and “the business of medicine” became topics that seemed to apply only to overly ambitious, money-centered veterinarians. Clients came in, paid their bills quietly and the bills got paid. And so for the past forty years our practices took care of themselves with very little effort from our profession’s leaders, pet owners and veterinarians. Until the Great Recession…

Regardless of your current financial status or opinion on the causes or extent of the Great Recession, our present economic state is an opportunity to improve our business practices. Our nation and much of the world’s monetary mood has shifted toward thriftiness, value, and is shedding displays of excess faster than a Kardashian wedding. A renewed emphasis on simplifying our lives, focusing on our families and health and returning to our strengths in innovation has begun to replace fancy cars, largesse and outsourcing everything. These are good things and occasions to better our lives. But now we need to get down to the business of business. […]