Veterinary Medicine Entering The Next Normal

Host: Hello everyone, welcome to the veterinary business podcast, your ultimate resource for developing a successful veterinary practice and career. I am Narayin Aruraja, the founder of the veterinary business podcast and one of Foko hosts. Of course, I'm joined today by our fellow co-host Dr. Weinstein. So Dr. Weinstein really looking forward to our conversation today and really the topic veterinary medicine entering the next normal. I think that's going to be just a wonderful topic. Before we jump into today's topic and you know, formally welcome you as a co-host, I want to take a couple of minutes to talk about what this is all about. So this podcast is for veterinarians, practice owners and practice managers, or students studying to be a veterinarian. We focus on the business of veterinary medicine. Of course, we have tons of resources, you can go to veterinarybusinessinstitute.com. That's our website, resources and tools and support for your growth. And of course, remember to subscribe to the podcast. You can do that in iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Dr. Weinstein, welcome welcome, you are a dear friend. I've known you for more than a decade.

Host: So you are just a legend and you know, you know, like a lot more than most of us can ever dream to know about the veterinary medicine. So thank you for being here. And I know also know that you are the president of power consulting. So you help practice owners. And of course, you give speeches. You do tons of other things. So first of all, welcome as a co-host and welcome as a guest for today's podcast. Thank you, Naren. And I would love to try to pronounce your last name. Tell me how much I'd mess it up, Aral Raja. You get it out of the vlog. Thank you. I appreciate it. But I will address you by as Naren today. Thank you for the invitation. Thank you for the opportunity to help influence the next generation. And I look forward to seeing where you take me today because this could be a smooth journey or could be a rough road. So you're in charge. And I get to see

Host: here sit here and be grilled. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to grill you. So appreciate that. And I do like the topic. veterinary medicine entering the next normal. veterinary medicine entering the next normal. Unfortunately, we live in a time in an age where the speed of change only gets faster. We think things are settling down, but no, no, no, they never do. And that speed continues to accelerate and accelerate. Lots of forces beyond our control, right? Like the economy, the pandemic that we all went through, changing perspectives on what, you know, team members want and what, veterinarians want and what, parents want. I mean, they're whole view on having kids versus paths. I mean, so many things are changing, right? Like most of the western countries now have declining population if you take away immigration, meaning if you just look at

Host: the people living in that country, like almost all western countries, I think the birth rate is like 1.2 in some countries, like in other words, for every female, they're having 1.2 kids. You know, as we all know, for it to be in equilibrium, you need two kids, right? Like, you know, man and a woman, so two kids. So hopefully, you're not dying off. You just are replacing the people who are going to be dying with the next generation. So that's all going on. And of course, people are using pets as a way to, you know, have that kid that, without the burden of sending them to high school and college and all that good stuff. So, so much stuff happening. So, let's jump in in your eyes, like just let's take a veterinary medicine perspective. What are some of the challenges that veterinary practices are facing today? It's a good question, because we somewhat, quote unquote, survived the pandemic in a pretty good state, because economically,

Host: we did okay. Business was good. We made a lot on the revenue side. And now we're coming out and we're dealing with a different economic environment, both at the micro and macro level, cost to people, cost to goods, everything else is going on. So, I think the economy is a challenge that we have to be aware of. I think people and the different mindset regarding work and the low unemployment rates, at least in the United States, is a discussion that needs to be considered. And I think we need to look at technology and its impact and its use, misuse, disuse, when it comes down to it. I think there's a lot of, and I think when it comes down to the veterinary profession, change management is something that we need to be better at, because I do think that we have been very reticent to change, unless it's forced to punish, and the pandemic forced us to change, and we showed that we could change, but it isn't something that we do voluntarily very

Host: well. So, I think I just kind of gave you a couple of different things. People technology change, the economics, all of these things are impacting and should impact our veterinary businesses. Thank you. There's two follow-up questions I want to ask you. You talked about the economy. You said pandemic from a business standpoint was good for veterinarians. A lot of people have pets and so forth. The demand just grew off the charts. And then, of course, you also touched on like where we are moving into. When you said, well, one of the challenges we have all noticed is everything is more expensive, 30, 40, 50% more expensive from wages to all kinds of other things. And also, finding people is hard because of low unemployment and people's mindset about work is that on the economics side, on the customer side, do you see any changes with the interest high interest rates and the Fed trying to put the predicts on things and whatnot on inflation?

Host: So, the consumer of veterinary services, the pet owners, who are owners, cow owners, pig owners, etc. During COVID, at least on the companion animal side, their expenses had been limited. They weren't traveling, kids weren't going to school, you know, really what they were paying for was Netflix and an Instagram. And so, cash flow was there and pets were being front and center. I mean, you weren't leaving and going to work. The pets were there, so you saw you had time to bring them in because lifestyles changed somewhat. And so, during the pandemic, veterinary revenue grew as the demand from consumers grew and it was in as a result, many practices raised fees to accommodate being busy. You know, when it's good, reap when you can. Raised fees because they had to deal with increasing cost of goods, supply chain issues, and so we, and we had to also raise salaries because of competition and a shortage in the workforce.

Host: So, during the pandemic, many, many, many practices grew on the revenue side in double digits and significant amounts. Concurrently, many of them actually went down on the profit side because expenses were going up faster in many cases than the income was coming in. So now, here we are, we're returning to some semblance of normalcy. And now, consumers are traveling. Airplanes are full, hotels are full, restaurants are full, air Jordans are selling for crazy prices and people have to decide where to spend their money. Right. It's been interesting is that as revenue has grown, had a reasonable rate, the number of transactions has been slowly decreasing and continuing to do so for well over a year, which to me indicates that head owners, consumers of veterinary services, are making economic decisions as to do I need to go in now? Can it wait? And in talking to colleagues and talking to managers,

Host: client service people, technicians, we're finding that there's more negotiations going on over the exam room table regarding cost of care as well. So, I think the inflationary environment, the concerns about the world economy and the battles and wars that are going on, have created such a level of uncertainty that many, not all, but many consumers are being cautious in their spend and they're having to make economic decisions regarding the health care of their pets. Makes sense. Appreciate it. Yeah. So, I think what you're saying is, finally, if you're getting back to normal, which means you are now competing not only with Netflix and Instagram, but you're competing with pretty much everything else, travel, hotels, restaurants. So, people are being demanding that significant price increase might now be coming back to rules because, well, they'll try to look for a cheaper place because that's what they remember,

Host: pre-pandemic and they don't want to spend 50% more money when they used to spend 50% less, so 30% less. I get it. I totally get it. So, it's a different dynamic, different world, and I guess some sense pandemic was a blessing on the demand side, but now it's becoming an inverted curse because costs have gone up, also because of the pandemic, you know, with people printing money and government giving a really free money, you know, a lot of good stuff, inflation and everything else. So, anyways, let me kind of go to the second question I have. What are some of the challenges that veterinary profession as a holistic facing? People, people, and people, okay, there's three. I think we have workforce challenges at the veterinary level because as we got busier, we needed more doctors and we did have some doctors that we lost to the profession during the pandemic for any of a variety of different reasons. We have workforce issues with the client service

Host: team and the animal care team because of wages and competitive wages, and we have workforce issues with the credential technicians because of wages, stress, burnout, etc. So, what we have seen during the pandemic is we saw in many practices a high turnover of staff and that includes both doctors and paraprofessional staff. And so, one of the challenges that I think practices need to look at is how can you build a healthy practice culture and focus on hiring the right people for that culture and retaining them indefinitely. I think we are so focused on replacement that we don't focus on retention. And so I think staff retention can go a long way to meeting client expectations, which is really challenged number two. The people part of that is challenged number two because client expectations have gotten higher. Of course, when you pay more, you expect more. So, you need to have great people on the team who stick around and provide great service.

Host: I think the service proposition is where another of the focus's needs to be, foicide needs to be. Veterinary medicine is a healthcare provider. No, we're a service industry that provides healthcare. And so, we really need to focus on the service. We'll to provide service. You need to have the right people and to have the right people. You need to hire them train them and retain them because you and consumers want a consistent experience with those people. And so the people part of veterinary medicine has to really be a big focus at the professional level, at the global level. It's how do we find the right people? How do we train them? How do we retain them? How do we get them to be contributors to the client experience? And how do we provide an increasing value proposition to our clients so that they are committed to their pets and they're committed to the veterinary profession? So, those are two of the global issues on the

Host: people side. And the final one is I really do think that we need to try to figure out how to simplify what we do because we have one of the most complex business models in all healthcare and even in all service industries. And so, how can we simplify it? So, the stress for our people can become a little bit less because the impact of the pandemic in many cases was not just physical but mental. And I think we need to work on the well care and the wellness of our teams as well. I think I probably gave you six or seven different answers to your question. Thank you, Dr. appreciate it. Now, obviously talking to you looks like we are in a crossroads, right? Kind of on the business side, pandemic was a blessing because it created a lot more demand because people had nothing else to spend their money on and pets became like one of the top things they had, they could spend all their free money on. But now the chicken is going back to rules

Host: then we have to deal with reality and so it looks like we are in a crossroads. So, where do you see the profession in five years, ten years? I see a growth of independent practices with different business models. They may be morning, only hospitals, they may be afternoon, only hospitals, they may be more of a concierge model. I think what we're going to start to see is more niche practices to meet the demands of the consumers, recognizing that the vast majority of our clients and the vast majority of our staff are millennials and they want a different experience. They want to be able to make appointments and touch on technology for just a second. They want to make an appointment online. They want to be able to refill their prescriptions without calling the hospital. They want the drugs delivered to their house. They want to be able to communicate by text and by email and not necessarily by telephone. So, we have to start to look at what technological tools and what

Host: business models will fulfill the needs and desires of the millennial generation who communicate differently, who find their information differently, and maybe don't want to spend 30 minutes waiting in a lobby to be seen. So, how can we give them an experience that is an Uber experience, a Starbucks experience, or an experience similar to that? So, I think five, three to five years from now, I think we're going to see more and different independently owned business models. I think we're going to see fewer of the national corporations, but they'll be bigger. I think many of the smaller corporations will be assimilated into the larger corporations. I think the national corporations are going to have to approach things a little bit differently because they're finding economic challenges just as the private practices and independent practices are. I think we'll see more and more technology that will allow us and let's talk

Host: about telehealth because I think telehealth is on the forefront of a lot of this. I think telehealth fits into the veterinary profession. We just haven't figured out how and where, but I think we're going to find some technologically-based practices. I think we're going to find some niche practices that deliver to the needs of and demands of consumers. I think we're going to find some veterinarians who can find lifestyle practices where they maybe work three days a week, maybe work four days a week, but can still provide the income that they need to have the lifestyle that they want. I think we're going to start to see a renaissance of independent practices and I think we're going to see a renaissance of what I would call startups that do it differently. And I think we have to do that. And I think it's healthy for the profession. We've been doing it the same way since James Harriet, we've been doing it the same way since Noah, the first veterinarian,

Host: and we need to start to think about how can we do things differently. So the next normal is going to be all about change and not about doing it the same way we've done it in the past. Thank you. So what you're saying is this is going to be the time for business owners, I.E. Entrepreneurs, who are going to be customer focused and who understand the millennials are totally different from the baby boomers and the millennials are by far already the largest consumer base for any vet practice owner. Yep, that's what we're going to have to do is you have to know your audience. Naran, you're in marketing. I don't need to tell you that. Marketing is all about identifying your four or five, six, seven peas. Whatever the number of peas are you're up to. And one of those is your people. Yes, yes. And I'm not sure how to practice that doesn't cater to the customers. They'll go somewhere else. Period. Now,

Host: but there may be a pool of customers. It's interesting as a veterinarian and many of my colleagues will relate to this. We want to be everything to everybody. We want to be Costco, but not everybody wants Costco. Some people like the mom and pop grocery store. Some people like Target. Some people like, you know, a large grocery chain. I think what we have to start to do is develop a vision for our practice. Share that vision with our team. Share that vision with our clients and identify those clients that want to come to see our business for the vision and the mission that we believe in. I think there's so many pet owners out there that we can take care of that we don't need every pet owner. We need those pet owners that believe in the mission that we're going to deliver and the vision that we're going to deliver to them. And if we take care of those pet owners and you keep them coming back and you retain them indefinitely, you don't need new clients because they will be the

Host: source for your new clients. I think that what we really need to be focusing on a staff retention and client retention because I think in the big picture, it's about building your community within your practice and the community is your team and the community is your clients. Right. One thing I'm noticing is like we have started to listen to calls and start doing to provide insights. There are some practices that are not booking half-than-you new client phone calls, meaning they're not doing a good job in that phone call for the patient or the millenial to say, yeah, I'm going there. Let me book an appointment. So I mean, think about it. Right. If that practice is getting 100 new client calls a month, that's 50 a month that is getting wasted. So it's no longer just enough to just talk about it. You have to now start measuring things. You have to start working on things. You have to start executing on it. Right. Because the practice

Host: is not one patient. It's rather hundreds or thousands of patients and clients. Let me ask you other three things that a veterinary profession can work on today. That is set them up for success globally. There are three areas that I think we are weak in. Leadership, communication, and training. And when I say leadership, it's at all levels. It's not just within veterinary practices. It is within associations. It's within education. It's within business. I think we need to start to develop leaders in this profession who are visionary and will start to push the profession into the next normal. Kicking and screaming, we either need to push them and pull them into the next normal. So we need to do a better job from a leadership standpoint. We need to do a better job from a communication standpoint and speaking to practices and staff and everything else and also to association members and just people in the profession. We're not the best at communicating.

Host: We're not the best at sharing ideas and concepts. We're not the best at being transparent and what our concerns are. From a leadership standpoint, many leaders are a tight lift instead of communicating. So we need strong leaders who are also strong communicators. Oh, and by the way, communication is too way. And the other way is listening. So we need to be better listeners. So we need leaders who are good communicators and good listeners. And then we need to be better trainers and teachers. We need to be better trainers and teachers of the next generation of veterinary students. We need to be better teachers and trainers of the people that we hire, so that they create careers and not just jobs. There is a reticence in the veterinary profession to train people. You know why? Because why should we train people when they're going to leave? So what happens is we don't train them and they stay. So we really need to do a better job

Host: of keeping our teams together and having that common vision and mission and direction that we're all working towards. So leadership, communication, and training. Thank you. Thank you. As we bring this to a close, I want to end with a question about the next generation. What do you tell your veterinary students about their future in the profession? It's a great question. And now and I'm not even sure if you know that I have a daughter that graduated from veterinary school in June. So I am emissions. Thank you. So I have, she's currently working for veterinary practice in Kansas, Australia. So her first job wasn't even in the United States. She tried to get as far away from me as she could. You're reminding me of my daughters. So I think what I tell my students is that the future is in their hands and that they should look to be able to create the future, command the future,

Host: and control the future by their thoughts, their ideas, their ability to communicate and their leadership. And I think that the future should always be coming from the younger generation. And so where my message to the students are, you can be what you want to be, be a no limits thinker, create the direction that you want, the focus that you want, and then build a success team to help you get there. Consultant advisors, accountants, lawyers, marketers, whatever the case may be. But I am very positive in my communications with the students that their future is up to them. And it would be best to set the tone for the future than follow the past. They should be the ones leading us into the next normal. Thank you so very much Dr. Weinstein. I really appreciate your time today. I really enjoy our topic, veterinary medicine entering the next normal. I also want to take a moment to thank our listeners. We appreciate each and every one of you.

Host: We cannot do what we do without you. If you like our podcast, please share it with your colleagues and friends on social media. Also, please don't forget to leave that review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews will help other doctors and practitioners find us. Until next time, keep striving for excellence in making a positive impact in the life of your patience and that parents. Wishing all of you an amazing week ahead.