Why do some veterinary clinics run so smoothly and others seem to be so chaotic all of the time? Some clinics can handle many people at once and others can only handle one or two at a time. Space definitely has something to do with it, plus patient flow and flow of charts has a lot to do with the amount of congestion in a clinic, along with the attitude of the veterinarians.
I have been in many clinics where there are so many steps to simply get a patient checked in. Then once the patient finally goes into a room, it takes a lifetime for a simple step to happen. They have to pull a record, have a doctor review the record, get the client to sign a release, print out a travel sheet, put the client in a room, find a technician to go in the room, and then reverse this entire process to leave. At the end, the only result is a frustrated and unhappy client. Most people do not mind waiting; however, they do want to see progress. When there are this many steps, there does not seem to be much progress.
Going paperless, as I have talked about earlier, will solve most of these issues. The person is checked in before arriving, then they sign a pad on entry, and then they are put into a room. The technician then goes into the room, followed by the doctor, the procedure is performed, and then the client leaves. All of the steps are shortened and the client is constantly being attended to. A lot of clinics that I have seen have an attitude that the doctor is this “high and mighty” individual and that everyone should cater to them. The doctor is an owner or employee and nothing else. Being a good practitioner has nothing to do with a DVM degree; it is totally dependent on your ability to converse and relate to clients. Do not make people wait longer then you would want to wait.
If clinics would understand that the client is the only reason that they are open and treat them as such, the flow of the clinic would take care of itself. Every client that comes through the door should be treated as if they are the last one left and should be given all of our attention. If clinics and veterinarians would focus on the client and not themselves, there would never be excess waiting time and there would never be unhappy clients. I have just lately seen an attitude coming out of school that “I am the doctor, people can wait on me, and I will get to them as soon as I can”. Instead, the attitude should be more like: “I am the doctor and the only reason that I have the privilege of being a doctor is because these people are coming into my clinic, and I will do everything possible to make them happy so that they do come back.” My bet would be that all of the flow problems and bottlenecks would go away because everyone would be focused on clearing them out so as to make it easier on the clients.
Tags: business leadership, veterinary management, veterinary practice growth
