What Every Team Member Should Know about Practice Management

Ask anyone who has worked for someone for awhile and they will quickly agree that nothing compares to having a wonderful boss at work. Several studies recently completed by the American Management Association demonstrate that having a good relationship with a manager was a key element in the retention of employees...

Successful Exam Room Communication - A Continuing Series - Step 1
The key to a successful exam room experience is COMMUNICATION. Last month, we provided an outline of an Exam Room Communication Model that has been used successfully in many clinic settings. For the next several newsletter, we will give you a closer look at points that will lead to your successful practice of this model.

1. PREPARATION
Pets present with about 3 to 5 concerns -- some concerns are the pet's and others are the pet parent's. This is the stage where we review and identify as many concerns as possible. One minute of preparation saves three minutes in the exam room. Ask your technician or assistant for the bullet points from the medical history and review the record for vaccinations, fecal checks, heartworm medication and testing, flea control and the date last used, previous medical problems, weight changes, etc. Once you have identified the concerns, you can prepare what you need.

As an example, on a first puppy visit, you may have the following concerns to address:

• Housetraining
• Nails
• Flea control
• Spay or neuter
• Heartworm prevention
• Fecal
• Review puppy biography