Uncharted Veterinary Conference

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When & How Do We Take Care of the Team’s Pets?

Uncharted Veterinary Podcast Episode 131: When and how do we take care of the team's pets?

What's This Episode About?

This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and veterinary practice manager Stephanie Goss give their takes on a topic that deserves more attention – team member’s personal pets and the care we give them. The questions specifically asked were:
How do we schedule team member’s pets for care – do we smush them in where we have time when they need it or do we take spots in the paying client schedule?
Do we treat wellness/preventative care visits differently than we do when it's urgent/emergent? Should we treat it differently?

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Discussion Points We Cover:

Things to consider when discussing with your leadership team or considering your veterinary team pet benefit scheduling:

  • Are we treating our team like clients?
  • A lot of us value patients like extended members of their families. Shouldn’t we be doing the same for our team member’s pets?
  • What are some of the external benefits to have team members experience life as a client? And on the flip side, are there internal benefits and what are they?
  • How do we balance providing care for team pets when we offer it as a discount? Do we give vets production? Do we have the team pay full price for certain circumstances? How do we help them realize their pet benefits don’t mean free pet care (or do they? Can they?)

Got a question for the mailbag? Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Upcoming Events

The Secret Sauce To Optimizing Workflow with Senani Ratnayake, RVT

The way we are doing things isn’t working. At least, not working well. Some inefficiencies might feel normal to us because we've always done it that way and we don't even realize there might be a better way to move forward. This 4-hour workshop is here to help.
Dissect your hospital’s workflow with Senani Ratnayake, RVT so you can get out of the woods in 4 strategic steps. Then, talk through what it will take to get your team on board to lean into your strengths and address your weaknesses.

All upcoming events: unchartedvet.com/upcoming-events/

A UVC MEMBERSHIP IS YOUR KEY TO FINALLY GETTING THINGS DONE AND GROWING YOUR VETERINARY PRACTICE.

Learn More About Membership.

There is No Going Back… What Is Our “New” Normal?

Uncharted Veterinary Podcast Episode 130: What is our "New" Normal?

What's This Episode About?

On this week’s episode of the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Practice Manager Stephanie Goss are joined by Dr. Jennifer Quammen, the Chief Veterinary Officer from TeleVet (www.televet.com) and they are talking about a few of the things that we are actually excited to keep in our lives after curbside service transitions into its next phase in veterinary medicine.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Discussion Points We Cover:

  • Our veterinary teams showed more teamwork during curbside. We were short-handed often so we all learned different jobs we never had to do before.
  • We are more prepared. Taking medical histories ahead of time leads to more thorough histories because the DVM can zoom in on the things that are really important, concerning to the owner and/or concerning to them.
  • We've seen better behaving patients. They don’t pick up on parental anxieties so we found that pets are more calm, more often with curbside service!
  • There are less “chefs” in the kitchen. When we had 3 people come in for an exam before, we had to sort through all the voices/concerns. Now we usually are dealing with 1 pet owner on the phone or we can teleconference with people who we need in the exam room but previously wouldn’t have been able to be there (teenager brings in patient but mom is at work).

Submit your questions to the mailbag: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Dr. Jennifer Quammen

This episode is sponsored by Televet! TeleVet is a veterinary technology company focused on enhancing the lives of veterinary professionals through simple and smart technology solutions. Dr. Jenn Quammen currently serves as a committee member on the AVMA Veterinary Economics Strategy Committee, she is an alumna of the AVMA Future Leaders Program, and is past member and Chair of the AVMA Council on Veterinary Service. She is a member and Secretary of the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics.

Get a 30-day free trial of Televet Flow & an Ipad for your clinic!

CLICK HERE
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Upcoming Events

AUGUST 14 – THE SECRET SAUCE TO OPTIMIZING WORKFLOW

Dissect your hospital’s workflow with Senani Ratnayake, RVT so you can get out of the woods in 4 strategic steps. Then, talk through what it will take to get your team on board to lean into your strengths and address your weaknesses.

This workshop will sell out! Register now and save your spot for $199 (free for Uncharted members)!

All upcoming events: unchartedvet.com/upcoming-events/

A UVC MEMBERSHIP IS YOUR KEY TO FINALLY GETTING THINGS DONE AND GROWING YOUR VETERINARY PRACTICE.

Learn More About Membership.

The Parents on the Team Want to Leave Early!

Uncharted Veterinary Podcast Episode 129: The parents on the team want to leave early!

What's This Episode About?

This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and veterinary practice manager Stephanie Goss tackle a great question from a friend and fellow practice manager. The discussion tackles what do we do when people on the team ask to leave before their shift ends? In this particular instance, it was a team member who has children and was asking to leave early to take their kids to sports practice on a regular basis. But their shift normally goes 2-3 hours past when they want to leave. This manager was asking “how do we balance work needs and the wants/needs of the team when it comes to scheduling conflicts like this?”

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Discussion Points We Cover

  • Coming up with creative, out-of-the-box ways to help our teams take time off in ways that work for them and the business
  • People are going to need time off. You should have clear protocols before the point of someone asking.
  • An alternate work-week option is not the same thing as flexibility. Flexibility has to start with structure.
  • We have to teach our teams how to be more forward-thinking when it comes to asking for time off.

Got a question for the mailbag? Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Upcoming Events

August 14: The Secret Sauce To Optimizing Workflow with Senani Ratnayake, RVT

The way we are doing things isn’t working. At least, not working well. Some inefficiencies might feel normal to us because we've always done it that way and we don't even realize there might be a better way to move forward.

This 4-hour workshop is here to help.

Dissect your hospital’s workflow with Senani Ratnayake, RVT so you can get out of the woods in 4 strategic steps. Then, talk through what it will take to get your team on board to lean into your strengths and address your weaknesses.

All upcoming events: unchartedvet.com/upcoming-events/

A UVC MEMBERSHIP IS YOUR KEY TO FINALLY GETTING THINGS DONE AND GROWING YOUR VETERINARY PRACTICE.

Learn More About Membership.

When Clients Make You Uncomfortable

Uncharted Veterinary Podcast Episode 128 When Clients Make You Uncomfortable

What's This Episode About?

This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss are into discussion about what to do when client behavior makes the team feel uncomfortable but hasn’t moved into “firing” territory. When a client gets flirty, uses pet names or other language that make the team feel uncomfortable, how do we make sure the team feels safe?

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Discussion Points We Cover:

When it comes to headspace, we need to remember that the client is not always right. We also need to remember that it is our duty as practice leaders to protect our team from harassment, regardless of who is doing the harassing.

Here are action steps that all of us can take to build awareness regarding harassment with our teams:

  • First, teach your team to recognize inappropriate behaviors and language
  • People who are making inappropriate comments will first ‘test the waters’ by making inappropriate jokes or mild comments to gauge response. If the other person dismisses the comment, they will likely continue with the inappropriate conversation or actions.
  • Inappropriate touch/conversation is anything that makes you uncomfortable! It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.
  • It's important to have a complaint process that your team knows about so they know who to talk to and when.
  • Investigate when a complaint is made.
  • Provide bystander intervention training (if you see something, say something)

Got a question for the mailbag? Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Upcoming Events

June 23 Skills In 90: Level Up Your Practice Photos

Forget about using those stock photos! Join photo editor and DrAndyRoark.com editorial director Melanie Kramer for a 2-session course on getting the best original images possible for your clinic – no matter what kind of camera you're using.

All Upcoming Events: unchartedvet.com/upcoming-events/

A UVC MEMBERSHIP IS YOUR KEY TO FINALLY GETTING THINGS DONE AND GROWING YOUR VETERINARY PRACTICE.

Learn More About Membership

Getting the Team to Raise Their Standards of Care

Uncharted Veterinary Podcast Episode 127 Getting the Team to Raise their Standards of Care

What's This Episode About?

On this week’s episode of the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Practice Manager Stephanie Goss tackle a topic from the mailbag. We received an email from Dr. Great Medicine Desired:

“When listening to a recent podcast episode about clients coming back in the building, there was a bit where you guys talked about the language being used when discussing services – making clients turn down good care, rather than offering it as an option and hoping they pick that choice.”

The practice that Dr. Good Medicine Desired purchased wasn’t exactly known for the most modern and/or high standards of care and they asked us how to help change the conversation for their team when it comes to discussing medicine choices with clients.

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Discussion Points We Cover:

There are 3 main pieces to this discussion:
-What to say and how to say it
-How to get buy in from the team on raising the medical standard of care
-How to Track It

Getting Buy-In:
-You need Core Values and a Purpose Story
-Also may need to work through head, heart, and/or hands problems
-Embrace the idea that not all clients are right for your practice
-THE TEAM HATES ROLE PLAYING! Make them do it anyway. It is about reframing the discussion so they feel like they are role playing without having to get up and perform in front of the group. Andy and Stephanie discuss some options for how to frame this part so that the stakes are lower and buy-in easier.

Got a question for the mailbag? Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Upcoming Events

June 9: Motivating People Who Don't Want To Be Motivated

Last chance to sign up! This brand-new program was created from a decade of working with practice leaders to motivate veterinary professionals in the trenches. The vast majority of “unmotivated people” are simply not understood or engaged with the messaging that is coming from their practice leaders. We can fix that. This workshop will teach you how.

All Upcoming Events: unchartedvet.com/upcoming-events

A UVC MEMBERSHIP IS YOUR KEY TO FINALLY GETTING THINGS DONE AND GROWING YOUR VETERINARY PRACTICE.

Learn More About Membership.