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Perception and Feesby Mark Opperman, CVPMVMC, Inc. Evergreen, CO 80439 The New Year is always a great time to review your practice’s perception of value. When was the last time you sat out in your reception area or objectively evaluated the outside physical environment of your practice? Maybe your practice is in need of a fresh coat of paint or a “facelift.” This is the time to do it! I would also suggest you incorporate the mystery shopper concept into your practice. Have a family member or friend, who would not be known by others in your practice, arrange an appointment for an out-patient office visit and bring their pet to the hospital. This person should go through the entire process, as would any other client. At the end of the visit the mystery shopper should fill out a mystery shopper form (click here to request your copy.) This document will detail the experiences of the mystery shopper, both positive and negative. The results of this form should be presented at the next health care team meeting. I would suggest you inform your health care team of the fact that you are going to do this. Two advantages of forewarning your team are: that won’t feel like you are “spying” on them and they will most likely treat every client as if they were the mystery shopper. Traditionally, January is also the time when many veterinarians raise their fees. I would suggest that you do a shopped and exposed study first and see where your practice fits with regard to these fees (click here to request your copy.) You can then competitively price your services. You then need to evaluate your in-hospital fees—they should be increased by at least double the cost of living. If you average the cost of living last year at 4% then your in hospital fees should be raised by at least 8%. You can do that by raising fees 4% now and then 4% six months from now or just get it over with and do 8% at one time. I might even round this off to 10%! Remember price is only an issue in the absence of value. So, this would also be a great time to evaluate the perceived value of services that we are rendering to our clients and their pets. Are we still completing the exam room report cards in front of the client and reviewing with them the comprehensive physical exam that was just performed? Are we presenting them with a copy of the report card? Are we calling back clients after the patient has been seen or discharged from our practice and inquiring how the patient is doing? Are the receptionists verbally itemizing the client’s statement before giving the total to the client? Doctors are you discharging your clients and spending five minutes of “face” time with them reviewing the services and procedures administered to their pet and the post operative discharge instructions? Most of us know what things we need to do, but are we consistently doing them? Remember - don’t expect what you don’t inspect! |