Gentle reminder: Normal wasn’t great (so let’s NOT go back there!)

Now, don’t get me wrong, I totally understand wanting the enhanced level of chaos, stress and frustration to decrease; I even understand the desire for it to be the way it was. After all, the mind will always find comfort in familiarity…even if that familiarity includes stress and frustration.  

What the mind doesn’t like is uncertainty, and right now the whole world has that in spades. Because of that, in this moment, the veterinary industry has an unprecedented opportunity to fundamentally change the culture and future of the practice of veterinary medicine; changes that will improve patient care, client service and, most importantly, work-life balance and personal wellbeing for ourselves and our teams.

The one thing that is certain? Change is happening. 

Not that long ago, the idea of hosting entire veterinary CE conferences online was deemed impossible and utilizing a drop-off system as a primary business structure for full-service veterinary practice was considered ludicrous. Within the last year, both became necessary. Today, these continue to be the norm. Tomorrow, they can continue to exist…if we want them to.

The truth is, YOU get to decide how you want to practice veterinary medicine. I think somewhere along the way we forgot that part—we adopted a collective belief that we had to offer all things, to all people, at all times. We created business structures that didn’t simultaneously support, at a human level, the people who worked there. We disregarded what we individually wanted and needed. We have decades of statistics and experiences that show us the tragic results.

Resisting change—even change we want—is normal. The resistance is anchored in the fear over the backlash of our client base and, thus, perceived potential loss of revenue. But, right now, with the entire world in flux, it’s the perfect time to act. People are expecting changes and we’ve gotten used to things changing in all areas of our lives since the arrival of COVID-19. It’s not going to get easier than this in regard to the human component.

To help you get started dreaming and brainstorming about what’s possible, I’ve got three out-of-the-box ideas to consider:

1. Self-hosted mass preventive care events

Many hospitals are experiencing a backlog of preventive care appointments and simultaneously booking weeks out for these services. There is opportunity to serve these clients in dedicated preventive care service events (e.g., running a vaccine/HW/Fecal clinic in your parking lot). This will not only help clear the backlog in your preventive care case load, but also frees up appointments for true medical cases. The clients will appreciate the efficiency, too!

Tip: Communication is key! Clients must be well informed that these are preventive care only visits. Any medical conditions found during the physical exam will require a separate appointment. And, by the way, we should be doing this anyway.

2.  Minimize cross-training and increase the use of staff members in dedicated, key roles

There are two areas where having consistent, dedicated staff members will greatly increase hospital efficiency, client satisfaction and patient care: Consent Coordinator and Surgery Team.

Consent Coordinator

This role is for the person on your team who is the very best at speaking to clients about treatment plans and money. They understand every line item on a treatment plan and the purpose behind them. They also have a good understanding of how a treatment plan can be adjusted if the client declines the initial doctor recommendations. They are familiar with the payment options your organization offers and can facilitate payments over the phone. They are also comfortable talking about money and do not take client reactions personally.

Curb-side has highlighted the real need for efficiency and confidence in discussing treatment plans and pricing. Many doctors and staff are spending way too much time back and forth on the phone sorting these things out…and many pass off these conversations to avoid them. The result? Time inefficiencies, confusion, and lack of standardization in recommendations and gaining consent.

By creating the dedicated role of Consent Coordinator, your organization will not only benefit from a streamlined process regarding treatment plans, consent and payment, but your medical staff can get back to focusing on treating patients which will decrease appointment time and increase client satisfaction

Surgery Team

This role consists of two to three (+) people whose sole job is to facilitate patient surgery. This includes pre-op labs, prep, anesthesia, surgical assistance/monitoring, post-op and discharge. The benefit? Improved patient care, decreased anesthesia accidents and increased efficiency, which will likely increase the number of surgical cases that can be scheduled per day. 

The key here is dedicated staff. These people should not be pulled away to restrain for another appointment, refill a prescription or take an unrelated phone call. They must be allowed to focus on the surgery rotation to keep it moving smoothly. This will allow them to enhance their skills, develop a rhythm and establish trust with the veterinarian. 

As a result, veterinarian workflow becomes much more efficient. When supported by a trusted surgery team, the veterinarian can do their initial physical exam, sign off on the anesthesia plan and then continue with other duties (writing records, refill authorizations, necessary phone calls, etc.) until it’s time to perform the surgery. Once complete, they can leave post-op to their trusted team while they once again focus on other duties. 

By creating a dedicated Surgery Team, not only will patient care and client service improve, your team members will actually enjoy their jobs much more because they are able to utilize the knowledge and skills they were trained for. And, don’t forget, the increased efficiency and pattern of workflow is good for everybody.

3. Appropriate delegation 

There are two main areas where improving delegation of responsibility will have a massive impact on daily work flow, patient care and morale: Call Backs and Client Education.

Call Backs

Only about 10% of client calls need to be returned by the doctor (no matter what the client says). The remaining 90% can be returned by a veterinary technician or assistant under the doctor’s guidance. Instituting this system has many benefits: 

A) It reinforces the concept of the veterinary healthcare team to the client and, given time to adjust, clients will accept (and even request) talking to a trusted technician or assistant as an extension of their primary veterinarian;

B) It keeps the doctor focused on doing the things only they can do (diagnose, prescribe and surgery); 

C) It improves overall efficiency and workflow because doctors are not stuck on the phone in non-critical conversations. 

Client Education

There are a variety of topics we regularly educate clients on…vaccine protocols, diet, exercise, spay/neuter, parasites and prevention, dental health, urinary health, diabetes, thyroid disease, ear infections, atopy and so on. And one of the greatest frustrations for the veterinary team is when they educate a client and then at a later date it becomes clear that the client didn’t understand. Many of us conclude they didn’t listen, but I’d argue that’s not the case.

When we throw a bunch of information at a client, particularly when it involves a new diagnosis for their pet, it is overwhelming. On a good day, people only retain about 20% of what is told to them—under stress, it’s less—and add to that the differences in learning styles (not everyone is an auditory learner!)

The solution? Visual backup! It has never been easier to create educational PDFs to print out and send with the client. They can take a little time to create on the front end, but once complete, the same document can then be used over and over. They can also be emailed. 

In addition to PDFs, educational videos are also super easy to create and inexpensive platforms exist to host them. You can include a link (or even a QR code) on a handout or in your discharge instructions or receipt prompting the client to review the additional information. 

The benefit? The client has an opportunity to learn and integrate the information you’ve provided between appointments so the next time they come in or call, they come with useful questions instead of total confusion and the need to start again at square one. This not only makes client interactions more efficient, it also improves patient care and service. +

The post The Silver Lining of COVID-19 for Veterinary Medicine appeared first on PetVet Magazine.

It is a problem.

Here’s what’s really going on…

Our perfectionist efforts are really just our attempt to control outcomes. Our control-freak nature is more of the same; trying to control exactly what other people do in order to then control the outcome. 

Deep down, our subconscious recognizes that we really don’t have any control at all. Our brains think that lack of control is a problem. It falsely believes that if we control everything then all the results will be favorable. Seems reasonable, so we believe it, and we live it.

So what happens when results are not positive? When we start from believing maximum control creates positive results, then the only possible conclusion we can draw from an unfavorable outcome is that, obviously, we must have done something wrong, right? 

Not True!  

But, this is what our silly brain will tell us right before it labels us an “imposter”.  And then from there, it goes to work looking for evidence to prove its label is right. 

Have a surgery complication? You must have done something wrong; you’re an imposter.

Have a client react badly? You must have done something wrong; you’re an imposter.

Have a case not respond as anticipated? You must have done something wrong; you’re an imposter. 

So, why are we so quick to believe our silly brain when it offers us the “imposter” label? Why do we even entertain the idea that we are not cut out for the profession we worked so hard to join?

It’s a simple lack of self-confidence, and a total misunderstanding about where self-confidence comes from in the first place.

See, confidence and self-confidence are two entirely different things. 

Confidence is something built through experience, like tying your shoes, or drawing blood from the jugular of a Labrador. The first time you do it, you aren’t really sure how it will turn out. You try, you fail. You try again, you get closer. You don’t stop. You keep trying until you succeed. 

Success is achieved when you do it right… and then you just keep doing it. Eventually, you don’t even think twice about whether or not you can do it, because you are confident in your ability to do that skill. Messing it up at that point would be a total surprise, right?

Our academic pursuits have reinforced this concept; pass the exams, pass the course; pass the courses, earn the degree. If you do it “right”, you achieve success. For circumstances where there is a clear right and wrong way, or clear pass and fail, this approach works.

For everything else, including what is required of you to practice veterinary medicine, this won’t work at all. It doesn’t work because it assumes there is a right and wrong way. It assumes cases get better when you do your job the right way.

That’s not how it works, but “Imposter Syndrome” believes that lie. There is no coming back from Imposter Syndrome and perfectionism unless you change what you believe about what truly measures success in the veterinary profession—and in your whole life.

Self-Confidence is not earned through successful action. It is simply a belief, and it is available to you right now, no matter what is going on in your world.

Self-Confidence accepts that you are worthy simply because you exist. 

Self-Confidence remembers you are capable in every situation because you were born equipped with everything you need.

Self-Confidence understands that what other people say and do are merely reflections of themselves, and not reliable measures of you and your abilities.

Self-Confidence knows that when you try to control everything, you impact nothing in a meaningful way.

Self-Confidence knows the real measure of success in the veterinary profession is not whether or not a patient got better or an owner stayed happy, but whether or not you showed up and did the best you could do with the information and resources you had available to you at the time.

Outcomes are never your responsibility because they have never been something you could control. You don’t have that much power, you never did. So when you measure your success as a veterinarian based on patient outcomes and client behavior, you will fail.

When you embrace perfectionism and control as the viable path to success, you will fail. Self-confidence recognizes you don’t have to do any of that—you showed up, you did your very best, you are enough.

Patients won’t always get better. Clients won’t always be happy. Human mistakes will happen. 

Your worth is absolute and independent of client actions and patient outcomes. You are right where you are supposed to be. You are a great veterinarian. You are enough.

If you have a hard time believing this and embracing it in the moment, you aren’t alone! Our brains were created to be on the lookout for danger. Every time you feel uncomfortable, your brain believes your life is at risk. It wants to stop that discomfort immediately. Your silly brain then offers up solutions to neutralize the discomfort; solutions like never doing surgery again, quitting your job, leaving the profession—or worse.

It’s all unnecessary. You aren’t in danger, you are just feeling a negative emotion. We erroneously believe that negative emotions mean something has gone wrong. That’s actually not true. Life is 50/50 positive and negative—you know this already—homeostasis is a great example of this necessary balance. Emotions are no different.

Half of the time the emotions you feel will be positive, and half of the time the emotions you feel will be negative. That’s just how it works. Learning to allow the negative emotions, and continuing to move forward in your life in spite of them, teaches your silly brain that negative emotions are not real indicators of danger. 

Learning to allow negative emotions builds self-confidence. 

You can speed up the process by offering your brain alternative thoughts when it goes into “everything is terribly wrong” mode. Choosing intentional thoughts to focus on will downgrade the impact of the negative emotions without requiring them to go away. Here are a few examples:

• I am enough.
• My worth is absolute and independent of client actions and patient outcomes.
• I am right where I’m supposed to be.
• I am a great veterinarian.

It’s all just part of the human experience. You’re learning. You’re growing. You got this! +

The post Confidence vs Self-Confidence Why Looking for Evidence of Success Is Making Us Miserable appeared first on PetVet Magazine.

Many of us believe this is just the way it is…that the emotional roller coaster is just “part of the job”…that the sleepless nights, overworking and the endless pursuit of work/life balance just comes with the territory.

What if that weren’t true?

If it’s not true, then we would find that our emotional health is not tied to our professional outcomes; that our quality of sleep is not dictated by the activities of the day; and that work/life balance is not a myth, but a reality.

I like those options much better!

I believe the real causes of stress in our profession come down to just a handful of things which can be greatly altered using these three strategies for managing stress, and finding joy. 

Strategy 1: Ease In

By the time you graduate from veterinary school, you have spent years and years focused on that one goal. But, before you began the long academic journey to become veterinarian, you were more than just a person working toward becoming a veterinarian! 

You had interests, hobbies, activities and talents that contributed to who you were. But as is true for many—as the academic pressures rose, and the demands on your time increased—you let all that “extra stuff” fall away. 

But here’s the deal… it’s all the “extra stuff” that makes life fulfilling and fun. Without it you are no more than your job. And although you serve in a profession that does highly impactful work, it is not the essence of your being. You are more than just a veterinarian. 

So, if you’re new to the profession, please think twice before going all–in. I’m not saying you should not enjoy your new career and give 100% when you are at work, but I am recommending you let work be work, and embrace the other areas of your life when you are not on the job. 

At first, because you have been focused on vet med for so long, this is going to seem a little strange. But think back, maybe way back, to the days before the pursuit of veterinary medicine consumed your life. How did you spend your free time? What hobbies or activities did you participate in that you have since given up? 

Consider intentionally scheduling 30 minutes in your week to do one of those non–vet things that you used to enjoy. Just 30 minutes, and do it even if you don’t feel like it, and see what happens. You’ll likely find as you prioritize time to focus on other things, the pressures of your new veterinary career will not seem as heavy.

Strategy 2: Remember Your Dream 

Your decision to pursue a veterinary career was associated with a dream you had for your future. The future is now. Are you living that dream? 

It is possible that your dream shifted a bit as you completed your studies and entered the profession. But if you are finding yourself becoming unhappy with your work, you might want to dust off that old dream and compare it to your current reality…there could be a “fit issue”.

Fit issues come in two main forms. The first has to do with misaligned practice area, which can include geographic location. The second has to do with misaligned practice focus, which includes the species you want to see and practice areas which interest you the most. 

If you’ve taken a job in a geographic area away from friends and family with whom you are close and with whom you wish to “do life”, you’ll want to intentionally build in time to stay connected. Thankfully, social media and web–based video communication is easier than ever. Just stay aware of how the distance may be impacting you, and don’t be afraid to make a change to remedy the geographic misalignment by moving closer if needed.

Likewise, if you’ve taken a job in a small animal clinic where they only serve cats and dogs and your passion is pocket pets, for example, it is worth asking hospital leadership if you can expand the practice to include those additional species. If your species and areas of interest can’t be pursued where you work now, you might also need to consider a change in order to find satisfaction in your career. Having the opportunity to focus on your special interests can go a long way toward creating job-related joy.

Strategy 3: Be Simply Human

Somewhere along the way, many of you will begin to forget that eventually some cases will not turn out well, and accidents will happen. Thankfully, these things typically happen infrequently, but when they do occur, you might be tempted to turn toward self–blame. Please hear this, poor case outcomes and accidents do not mean you are a bad veterinarian. You are simply human, not super human, after all!

The reality is, that despite your very best efforts, mistakes and accidents will happen—and some cases will not respond to treatment as anticipated. In addition, some clients will simply refuse to take your medical advice. None of these things devalue you as a veterinarian! Resist the urge to take it personally. There are very few things that you can control, and medical outcomes, as well as the actions of others, are simply not controllable. 

When you really recognize this as true, you can allow yourself to stop wasting time worrying. Worrying will not benefit your patients (or you) in any way. Chronic worry can actually negatively impact your physical health. Worry is a colossal waste of energy and a serious stealer of joy. Instead, remind yourself you are simply human, and allow the outcomes to be what they are, without making them mean anything more. 

When you make the best decisions you can for your patients based on the information have and the permissions you are given, approach your cases with good intent and provide good customer service, then you’ve done your job. 

Now go out and enjoy your life! +

The post 3 Strategies for Managing Stress and Finding Joy as a Veterinarian appeared first on PetVet Magazine.