Vetsolutions
February 2016
Out of sight, out of mind Greg Robinson talks about increasing revenue without raising prices
Best Practice Seminars Alan Moody talks about improving the business performance of your practice
Social media Making friends and influencing people in the digital age
www.vetsolutions.co.uk
Vetsolutions Insight
Measuring potential, driving success With just a few pages you can monitor activities that improve your practice performance
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Contents February 2016
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Best Practice Seminars Boost performance with our best practice seminars
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Win an upgrade... Improve the health of your business with our fantastic RoboVet giveaway.
RoboVet Training Make the most of RoboVet.
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Out of sight, out of mind Greg Robinson, talks about how to increase revenue without raising prices.
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Day in life
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Helping your practice grow... Read how Vetsolutions & Henry Schein Animal Health are having a positive impact on veterinary practices.
Meet our Sales Administrator Jo Malpas.
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Social media Making friends and influencing people in the digital age. 3
Vetsolutions Insight
Welcome to
Vetsolutions
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www.vetsolutions.co.uk
I’m sure customers will by now be aware of the acquisition of RxWorks which completed at the end of January. We are delighted to welcome RxWorks to the Henry Schein family and are confident of their success as part of our global Animal Health Practice Solutions business.
This acquisition continues our heritage of creating high quality software solutions and extends our global reach, providing a bigger footprint for Henry Schein. This will enable us to grow faster and further enhance our value to those customers in search of a veterinary business solutions provider to help them accelerate the growth of their own practice. RxWorks was founded in 1988 and has its headquarters in Brisbane and an office here in the UK, based in Newbury. It is a very good, well-built practice management software and over the coming months we will start to understand more about where possible synergies exist between our two systems and where each can learn from the experiences of the other. Vetsolutions and RxWorks will remain as two separate businesses and both software solutions will continue to be developed. For now, I can reassure customers of both systems that there will be no immediate changes to the products, the teams nor the support that our respective customers enjoy. Looking back at 2015 I can report a very good year for Vetsolutions as we continued to develop our product roadmap. I am delighted to be able to report an increase in our levels of customer care and we are continuing to place significant resources behind this as one of our top priorities for the coming year. Our programme of customer workshops was highly successful and well-received by those practices that attended, and we hope to run a similar programme in the coming year, which will be spearheaded by a series of Best Practice Seminars (see more details on page 6). The launch of our online booking module was a particular highlight of last year and we are already seeing a fantastic uptake of this technology, with practices benefiting hugely from customers being able to have the flexibility to book appointments online at a time and in a place convenient to them.
Our focus for 2016 remains on supplying practices with the tools they need to help them improve their performance. To this end we will continue to develop ever-closer relationships with Henry Schein Animal Health UK and readers can find out more about our plans for greater collaboration in a joint interview with myself and managing director of HSAH David Hinton on page 25 of this issue. Rapport will continue to be important part of our business solutions portfolio and the rollout of this innovative, fully integrated software will continue in the coming months. The customer marketing elements of this software are very exciting and I believe are set to transform the way in which veterinary practices are able to communicate with clients and monitor response to marketing messages. It is set to be a busy and exciting 2016 for us all at Vetsolutions and we hope we can help make it a successful and profitable year for all our customers. As always we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at BSAVA and the other events running this year.
Alan Moody General Manager
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Vetsolutions Insight
A nationwide programme of Best Practice Seminars commenced in February and will run throughout 2016. Launched in collaboration with Henry Schein Animal Health this programme of seminars will aim to provide vets, business owners and managers with a greater insight into how they can improve the business performance of their practice. General Manager at Vetsolutions Alan Moody, tells us more… “ The last five years has been acknowledged as a period of time during which we have witnessed an evolution in the veterinary landscape. An increasing awareness of the need to not only provide clinical excellence, but to do so within the confines of a profitable practice, has taken business issues close to the top of a vet’s priorities. This change in attitude has been largely driven by the growing influence and market penetration enjoyed by veterinary corporates, which in turn has increased the competitive stresses felt by high street practices. ike most small business owners, vets are L often guilty of working in their business rather than on their business. In recognising this as a real issue for practitioners we also identified that between us Vetsolutions and Henry Schein Animal Heath (HSAH) have a
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huge amount of knowledge and experience in the veterinary industry that we believe can be of use to individual practice owners. As the world’s largest provider of healthcare, veterinary and dental supplies, Henry Schein by definition is in a unique position to understand the different markets it serves. By learning from the diverse organisations and practices within these markets we believe we have drilled down to some key elements that can help drive practice performance. Our aim is to consolidate our position as being an integral part of the DNA of the veterinary industry and we want to use our knowledge to help make individual veterinary practices more successful and more profitable. Part of this demands that we spend more time with vets, trying to understand their challenges, but also so that we can share the knowledge we have about the best practice processes we see working every day. We have already found that when we partner with our veterinary customers in this way our input has a real impact on their business and subsequently on our business, creating a mutually beneficial relationship for us all.
As a result of all these factors we decided to develop a vehicle for sharing our knowledge with customers and now for the first time this type of business advice is available to the veterinary profession in the form of Best Practice Seminars. This programme of evening events will act as a platform for us to share the ‘Best Practice’ insights which we have developed over many years working with the profession. Our Best Practice Seminar consolidates our knowledge and provides a thought-provoking insight into how vets can accelerate their business growth, regardless of their practice management software. Using case studies and best practice analysis based on empirical knowledge we have identified the key elements that determine the relative success of a practice. We also know that running a profitable business can be crystallised down to two elements: controlling costs on the one hand and generating revenue on the other. Our Best Practice Seminar will cover each of these topics in detail and show how practice performance can be taken to the next level.
www.vetsolutions.co.uk
Missed Charges
Marketing
This is a fundamental but common issue for the majority of practices. The inability, whether through logistical shortfalls or human error, to charge correctly for both the time and materials used in every case is costing practices a significant amount of net profit every year. Our Best Practice Seminar will share with you the tools that will help you implement rigorous processes that will ensure that missed charges are minimised, if not eradicated altogether.
The need to acquire more new clients and retain the custom of existing ones is a perennial issue for veterinary practices, complicated even further by the impact of our new digital economy. We will show you how to optimise your marketing communications to new and existing clients, using digital technology and how you can take best advantage by automating communications and monitoring results.
Stock Control and Management
Too often, vets rely on gut feeling rather than their actual practice data to assess their performance and success. But we know that within a practice’s RoboVet system there is valuable data which can be extracted and analysed, providing a real-time snapshot of a practice’s true performance. By identifying and routinely measuring its most important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), a practice can build a clear picture of its performance and identify its biggest opportunities for growth. This information ensures that business owners and managers can plan a clear direction for the future and make decisions based on facts rather than fiction. Our Best Practice Seminar does not endorse methods that require making wholesale changes to the way a practice operates. Rather we believe that even relatively minor alterations to existing processes can have a significant impact on internal efficiency, which subsequently translate into substantial bottom line profit.�
Stock management is one of the biggest headaches faced by vets and managers and we all recognise the impact of poor stock control on profitability. Our Best Practice insights will reveal the extent of the problem and demonstrate how procedures for controlling stock and wastage can be easily implemented.
To find out more enrol on a Best Practice Seminar, evening events that are running throughout the country from February. Each event starts at 6:00pm and lasts approximately two hours. The events are free of charge and more details can be found at www.vetsolutions.co.uk/events/best-practice-seminars
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Vetsolutions Insight
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Win
an upgrade to RoboVet in 2016! Improve the health of your business with our fantastic RoboVet giveaway.
Three practices have already had their name drawn in our monthly prize draw which started in November of last year. The teams at Quantock, Kebir House and Churchfield are on their way to having their RoboVet upgrade for 2016.
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To enter, all you have to do is visit our website and complete the contact form.
Didn't win this time? Don't worry! We’re giving away one FREE upgrade to RoboVet every month until 31 December 2016 to our loyal legacy customer base. The upgrade will include your RoboVet licences plus all our professional services free of charge!
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Make sure you select “Competition Entry” from the dropdown menu. A winner will be chosen at random every month. You must submit a new form every month to be included in the draw.
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The winner for February will be announced on Friday 4 March - but you've got to be in it to win it!
What are you waiting for? Improve the health of your business today with RoboVet. Terms and conditions apply.
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Out of sight, out of mind by Greg Robinson In the second of a series of articles produced for ‘Vetsolutions Insight’, founder and CEO of Sparkline Technologies Greg Robinson, talks about how to increase revenue without raising prices.
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www.vetsolutions.co.uk
Firstly I would like to reiterate some of the points I made in my previous article in ‘Vetsolutions Insight’ with regard to the importance of ‘process’ within a veterinary practice. Ensuring good process is a crucial starting point for most practices as this has an immediate and direct impact on a practice’s financials and is a critical factor in determining net profit. The simple fact is that some veterinary businesses lose half their profits in missed charges and they miss those charges because there are either too many steps in the process or the process doesn’t include every element necessary to perform the service.
I cannot emphasise often enough or long enough the importance of minimising missed charges in a veterinary practice, yet in all my dealings with practices throughout the world over many years, it is the one area which almost every owner overlooks. Missed charges can account for as much as 5% of lost revenue in some veterinary practices and are one of the most common problems faced by vets. The great thing about identifying missed charges is that by solving the problem
we can have an immediate impact in terms of improving revenue and profits. In some cases, by fixing this single issue we have been able to double a practices’ net profits, and that occurs the day we fix the process. In order to identify where missed charges are occurring we analyse the various ‘processes’ within the practice - by processes I mean surgical, dental, orthopaedic, general anaesthesia etc. - the list goes on and may be different for every practice. Each of these
processes must be broken down into its constituent elements. So taking ‘surgical’ as an example we must include premed, anaesthesia induction and maintenance, consumables, medications, examinations, hospital fees, theatre and equipment fees and waste disposal. If a practice fails to account for every one of these elements in its ‘surgical process’ and therefore fails to make an appropriate charge, it is losing potential revenue and profits.
The Double Whammy Consumables is an area of particular concern, as if the practice is not making a charge for consumables used during a procedure neither is it recovering the cost of the raw materials. In surgical processes one consumable that is always required is sutures, but I often visit practices and find that when the Sparkline software analyses charges, surgical consumables may only be charged 20-30% of the time. This clearly indicates that the practice has failed to charge the client for items that have been used during surgery and have been a direct cost to the practice.
Some practices not only miss charges on some occasions, but also fail to have any charge whatsoever for certain parts of the process. A common example of this is a theatre fee or a charge for medical waste disposal, both of which can rarely attract a charge. The truth is that EVERY surgical procedure needs to take place in a suitably equipped environment which requires heating, lighting, rent and rates etc. so it is perfectly reasonable to make a charge for these items via a theatre fee which should also include time to prep the patient, clean the room and instruments used in the process. Similarly with medical waste disposal - this is a direct
cost to the practice and should therefore be allocated a charge on the client’s invoice. These small additions make a fractional difference to the overall bill, but charging for them every time has a huge impact on overall revenue and profits in the year. By introducing a fee for chargeable items where one has not existed before will have a significant influence on the average transaction fee for that process.
Vetsolutions Insight
Take Action So how does a practice ensure that all the elements of a process are included on every invoice? To do this manually would be untenable, but by using the POS Actions functionality in RoboVet, managers can create POS Groups, which ensures that every chargeable item is included in a process and is therefore accounted for in a single key-stroke. The creation of these formulations using POS Groups, transforms charging into a simple one-step process. The result is an increase in average transaction value, which has a significant and immediate impact on revenue, without requiring any increase in fees.
Cost Versus Value / Benefits The important part of ensuring client acceptance of an invoice is to ensure that all charges are properly explained. If the process is itemised on the bill, showing all the details associated with that item, clients will accept the fees and furthermore they will perceive a higher value in the services you are offering because they understand all the different aspects of the process. In RoboVet it is possible to describe in plain English exactly what constitutes each line item. The detail here is important so the client can understand exactly what each individual charge is for. Most software systems have two names for each fee or POS Group – the one they search by and the one that is printed on the invoice. The latter is the one that requires the detail that the client will see. I always recommend that vets explain the benefits of treatment rather than simply the functional aspects of the procedure because once a client perceives the value of a product or service the cost is often an irrelevance. The challenge is not in explaining the benefits but in getting all the items on the bill in the first place. I had a great example of that myself a
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few weeks ago, our family pet Dexter required emergency surgery for a lacerated eye ulcer and the ophthalmologist said its 3,000 (dollars) today (it was a Public Holiday) or we can wait until the morning where it is 2,000 but he may lose the eye. So that is a great example of value / benefit over cost. Vets in general are mostly unaware of how these simple actions could transform their business and drastically improve practice performance and ultimately profits – that’s why we run a business – to reward the shareholder with profit. However, a more competitive high street is creating a change in this attitude and many vets are now seeking ways to become more profitable. By introducing rigorous processes vets and managers can transform the revenues of their practice and some of the results we have achieved are outstanding. The most successful practices I see have always got their processes sorted out, their software sorted out and they always sell the benefits and value of treatment to their clients. I believe Sparkline is unique (always a risky word) in its ability to identify averages across the different processes in a veterinary practice.
Having access to this level of detail enables the owners to drill deeply into the data held within their RoboVet system and by using this information more intelligently a practice can add hugely to their profitability. Identifying missed charges is just the first step on the road to a more profitable practice. Once these have been fixed we move on to look at how to increase revenue if client numbers are falling, and finally we help practices maintain a consistent level of care across their group or between providers. The most successful businesses are always thinking of how to maximise future opportunities and searching for ways to improve internal processes. Analysis is a crucial part of this task as without understanding current and past performance it is impossible to achieve more in the future.” As the management consultant Peter Drucker said “What’s measured gets improved” and with no measurement you are running blind. Here is the proof, adding 200 pounds per surgery over an 18 month period by fixing missed charges and introducing theatre and waste disposal fees.
4-step
guide to maximising revenue
Identify
Next time: Greg shows us how to maintain revenue growth if client numbers are falling.
and fix missed charges
Introduce appropriate new fees
Establish POS Actions for each process in RoboVet
Explain
benefits on the invoice so that the client perceives all charges as reasonable
Author Profile and Sparkline Greg Robinson has a long and prestigious heritage in veterinary software, having worked in the sector for over 30 years. Now as CEO of Sparkline Technologies he uses his knowledge and experience to act as an independent consultant to the profession. Sparkline software is installed in a day and gives veterinary practices a dashboard of metrics derived from the data held within their RoboVet system. Sparkline analyses data on a vet-by-vet basis as well as a broader practice basis and has a traffic light system that highlights where performance is improving or worsening based on prior year results, enabling practice owners to understand where improvements can be made and priorities lie.
In addition to Sparkline, our sister company Henry Schein Animal Health offer their unique Thrive business analysis and ongoing consultancy service. In addition to gaining sight of the analysis, Henry Schein Animal Health consultants continually explore specific areas of your business with you and together, agree an action plan which they then monitor and most importantly, help you implement. If your keen to help your business prosper contact Henry Schein Animal Health direct on 01387 262 626. 13
Vetsolutions Insight
Day in the Life Jo Malpas Sales Administrator
Changing or upgrading a practice management system is one of the biggest decisions a veterinary practice will ever make and ensuring the process runs smoothly from start to finish is vital to gaining customer’s confidence. Thanks to Jo Malpas, Sales Administrator within our Implementation Team, who provides a direct contact point during this critical period, our customers are assured of a smooth passage for their order, from sale to ‘go-live’.
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“Working as part of the Implementation Team, my role is one of an internal co-ordinator and as such I act as a conduit between our internal teams and the practice, arranging installation, upgrade or conversion from a legacy product. I also deal with orders that come via Vetsolutions’ Account Executives, who are
responsible for liaising direct with practices on a regular basis and who often take orders for hardware or additional modules. This is a purely administrative role, which involves processing the order and ensuring that the build team is aware of the details.
www.vetsolutions.co.uk
My involvement with customers who require an installation is far more involved and starts as soon as a sale has been made. Whether this is an upgrade or installation, the sales person gives the practice my name and contact number immediately, which ensures there is a seamless point of contact from sales through to logistics and installation. This serves to give customers peace of mind and demonstrates, in a tangible way, their value to us. At the same time the practice receives a call from the conversion team, which introduces them to Vetsolutions and outlines what they can expect in the coming weeks, prior to and after installation. The actual order is passed directly to me for processing and it’s my job to inform the build and engineer teams of the full details of the order so they are aware of the practice’s needs. I have a lot of interaction with customers and work closely with our Implementation Manager to secure a ‘go-live’ date with the practice. This involves liaising with the practice and coordinating the date internally to ensure a smooth process. I normally email the practice with a few different options and confirm a date that suits everyone. This can take a little time, but we always do our best to accommodate the needs of the practice. Once the date has been agreed, I alert the engineers who will actually be responsible for the installation and also the trainers who need to be on-site a few weeks before ‘go-live’ and during the installation itself. The trainer also returns a few weeks after installation to ensure that everything is running smoothly and it’s my job to co-ordinate all these different resources and liaise with the practice so that everyone is aware of the timing of each part of the process and to iron out any glitches that may occur along the way.
Naturally, my role involves a lot of phone calls with individual practices and I normally work with a nominated contact, this is usually the practice manager, but can sometimes be one of the partners or the principal. I really love this aspect of my job as it gives me a chance to speak directly with the practice and over the course of a few weeks I often get to know them quite well. I always try to keep all practices up-to-date and provide a friendly voice, one who knows about the progress of their particular installation and to whom they can come with any queries prior to ‘go-live’. It really helps the practice that they are able to phone and talk to someone and that we don’t only offer an online contact point. Often, the practice just wants immediate reassurance about the progress of the order and I’m able to give that and set their mind at rest that everything is under control.
Although my interaction with practices is mostly via phone calls and email I also attend trade shows and have been present during a couple of installations, which has proved invaluable experience. Actually being at the practice whilst the install is taking place has been really useful in my role as I was able to see first-hand all the different elements that go into a successful installation. This wider knowledge has given me an appreciation of the things that practices worry about leading up to their ‘go-live’ date and this has helped me be more aware of potential queries even before they arise. I usually work with around 15 individual practices at any one time, all of which are at one stage or another of the install process and have new clients coming to me on a daily basis, so I am never short of something to do or a practice to call. I really enjoy my job and although there was a lot to learn about the veterinary market to begin with I couldn’t be happier. I love the fact that as a technology company, Vetsolutions is constantly developing new products so nothing ever stands still, which keeps my job very interesting and I love the fact that I am helping practices reduce their stress at what can be a very demanding time.” ●
The role of Sales Administrator adds an additional layer of customer support which sets Vetsolutions apart from other providers. 15
Vetsolutions Insight
Social media with Onswitch
Making friends and influencing people in the digital age Sophie joined us after her 16 week internship with Onswitch. She recently graduated with a first class degree with Honours in Business Management and Entrepreneurship at Nottingham Trent University and has taken on the role of Project Coordinator heading up the Cxclub. She is excited to be driving the Cxclub project forward so customer care teams get the opportunity to become part of a Customer Experience movement. It's a fair bet that everyone reading this will know exactly what social media is. It's also pretty certain that most of you will be regular users, given the picture painted by Ofcom's 2015 Communications Market Report: > 72% of UK online adults have a social media profile > 97% of these have Facebook (half only have Facebook) > 20% of adults access Facebook more than 10 times a day > 26% of UK adults have a Twitter account > 56% of Twitter users access it daily 16
Given the enormous influence that social media has on every aspect of our lives, it's simply inconceivable that a practice would not use this platform for communicating with clients; especially when you consider that as a medium it's fast, free and highly effective.
www.vetsolutions.co.uk
Making the most of your social media presence So your practice has a Facebook page, but how and when should you use it? Let's take a look at some simple tips to help you do it right:
> Allocate somebody specific responsibility for keeping Facebook up to date and checking in several times a day
> Add new content daily (but not more than three times a day!) It can be helpful to
create a running monthly calendar of topics to feature, such as the example here:
MONDAY Welcome new followers
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Directions, opening times, emergency hours
Product offers / discounts
Species / breed information and statistics
Veterinary advice article or link
Cute / funny picture of in-patient
Species / breed information and statistics
Welcome
Pictures – A day in the life of…
Question / poll / survey
Veterinary advice article or link
Facilities / equipment feature
Cute / funny picture of in-patient
Lost and found
Welcome
Veterinary advice article or link
Overweight pet success story
Species / breed information and statistics
Meet the team
Charity suggestion
Sunday funny – quote or picture
Video blog
Link to community pet related groups (dog shows, training classes etc.)
Case study – continue through week
Case study
Case study
Welcome
Case study
Species / breed information and statistics
Lost and found Event announcement
> Put plenty of photos and videos up -
people love to look at pictures of funny or cute animals
> Do make sure you get written permission
from clients to publish images and details of their pets. You can easily add some standard words to the bottom of all your practice literature saying something like "I am happy for images of my pet to be used for practice marketing, which will include social media: YES or NO", and the vast majority will be more than happy to oblige.
> Ask clients to leave testimonials and reviews on your Facebook page - these will feature in a potential client's Google search for your practice. If you receive a poor review, address the issues raised professionally, with a polite reply
> Aim to create a vibrant social media
community for your practice - direct clients to your website and feature links there to blogs, related content and back to your social media pages
Veterinary advice article or link
Friday funny quote or picture
Team member profile
> Steer clear of politics and really contentious issues (hunting, animal testing etc.)
> Create a library of 'how to' videos and post one to your page each month. How to.. worm a cat, de-flea a dog etc. All done with warmth and humour as appropriate to show that your practice understands what it's like to share your life with a pet
> Make sure that the tone and messages
featuring throughout your Facebook page are consistent with your practice ethos and branding
> Using correct spelling and grammar ensures a professional feel
> Get a practice smartphone for updating
statuses and adding photos quickly and with minimal disruption to the reception desk
> Check the practice page three or four
times a day so you can reply quickly to any questions or messages. Equally, if anyone has left any inappropriate content, you can respond to it swiftly
> If negative comments are posted, don't
delete them, deal with them. If there is a genuine issue, detail what you are doing to rectify the situation. If it's just griping, ask the poster to come in and have a chat with you
> Don't tolerate bad language or spiteful
comments. You can delete persistent offenders' posts after you've warned them you will do so. And always report trolls or truly nasty comments direct to Facebook
> Facebook advertising is a great way to
drive word of mouth recommendations and boost client numbers. It's very cost effective as you can specify the location, age and gender of your target audience, so you can be sure that your message will be delivered to people in your area who are ready and willing to spend money with you
> Aim for 1,000 Facebook friends for every Full Time Equivalent vet at the practice
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Vetsolutions Insight
I've got a Facebook page, what next? Given its expansive reach, Facebook is undoubtedly the best place for your practice to start with social media. Once you've created an engaged community of Facebook friends, then Twitter is a good second step - with its 140-character maximum it's great for sending quick messages and reminders. Twitter is most useful for promoting real-time events and messages: drop-in clinic starting now (posted at the end of the working day to remind owners they can call in after work), reduced price flea treatments for the first ten replies etc. It's also extremely useful for following veterinary bodies, pet stories and local media, for immediate notification of news and relevant issues.
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Increasing numbers of practices are featuring blogs on their websites, but if you're going to commit to this, do make sure it becomes a regular post. Nothing says 'average practice who's trying to be relevant, but really doesn't get it' like a blog that's a year old. On the other hand, a short piece recent featuring an interesting case or characterful patient demonstrates that you are truly passionate about pets and love what you do.
Of course there are plenty of other social media platforms: Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram and so on, each with their own demographic and unique appeal. Given that these are predominantly designed to deliver instant messaging and visual imagery however, they are generally less useful for client communications. Google+ is potentially more useful for veterinary practices - an online social media platform that connects users with others with similar interests and passions, through a series of distinct circles and communities. So work colleagues don't see your sister's baby photos and clients don't know that you turned 40 at the weekend with a particularly messy party! However, despite its potential to become an extremely powerful platform for owners seeking professional veterinary advice (it does not feature adverts) Google+ is not widely used by practices; and that's probably unlikely to change.
It's time to fully embrace Facebook! The arguments for using Facebook as an effective, engaging, free, quick and simple communication tool are clear. If your practice is not using Facebook, quite simply you're not only missing a huge opportunity to connect with owners but you're showing potential clients that your practice is backwards in its outlook (and they won't fail to infer that your approach to customer service and clinical care way well be the same). Let's face it - right now at least, Facebook is it!
Learn. Network. Understand. Vet solutions Product/Service
Vetsolutions Insight
Training
Make the most of RoboVet Training tailored to you
Training options to meet your practice needs Making time for training isn’t always easy; it’s one of the first things to get pushed back when things get busy. We get that and we want to make things as easy as possible for you to make sure your staff get the training they need to get the most out of RoboVet so we’ve developed a range of training packages to meet the needs of your practice. 20
Training schools Our training schools are suitable for staff that are pretty comfortable with the basics within the RoboVet system and are ready to get into the really good stuff. The cost for the full day session is just £245 per person (including lunch and refreshments) and we have four topics to choose from: >A ccounts This training will help you learn RoboVet’s tricks and shortcuts making accountancy procedures simple and streamlined >P roduct list (stock) This stock management training will help you implement stock procedures throughout your practice to minimise the impact of missing or unaccounted for stock >B usiness Barometer Use your practice data to benchmark against 10 KPIs. Business Barometer is an excellent tool for bust Practice Managers who want to improve business profitability >M arketing and Schemes Understand how to segment and extract the data from RoboVet to target your clients with appropriate marketing campaigns. Also, you will learn how to build client loyalty through RoboVet’s schemes functionality * Please note: we require a minimum number of 5 attendees for a training school to go ahead.
www.vetsolutions.co.uk
Accounts Mon 21 March
Oxford
Mon 26 Sept
Manchester
Mon 28 Nov
Leeds
Marketing & Schemes Tues 23 Feb
Chelmsford
Mon 25 April
Exeter
Tues 17 May
Maidstone
Tues 24 May
Glasgow
Mon 24 Oct
Birmingham
Become an expert in practice
Product List / Stock Mon 22 Feb
Newcastle
Business Barometer Mon 27 June
Salisbury
Tues 27 Sept
Cambridge
Tues 6 Dec
Croydon
Practice training events
Remote training
If it’s not possible for staff to travel to training schools or maybe you want an entire team trained then our practice training events are the ideal solution. You don’t need to go anywhere, we’ll come to you and you can decide on any of our four topics to be covered that day. The cost for this convenient training option is just £700 for the full day.
Our remote training options are very popular with customers who add on new modules or for giving new members of staff an introduction to the RoboVet system. We offer three levels of remote training; you can choose the one that works best for you:
Full day remote training
Half day remote training
2 hours remote training
£450
£245
£200
NEW! Annual Training Plan Our fully customisable training programme will start with a complete overview of the RoboVet system and a practice health check to establish your training needs. Your dedicated trainer will then work with you to pull together a comprehensive training programme tailored to your bespoke requirements.
For more information on any of our training packages or to book a place please give our sales team a call on 0131 556 0555 or email training@vetsolutions.co.uk
This is an excellent opportunity to review your use of the RoboVet system, to see best practice in action from our team of experts and to ensure your team are using RoboVet in the most efficient way possible, maximising your return on investment. 21
Vetsolutions Insight
grow...
Helping your practice
Innovations and new strategies from both Vetsolutions & Henry Schein Animal Health are having a positive impact on veterinary practices. General Manager of Vetsolutions Alan Moody, and Managing Director of Henry Schein Animal Health (HSAH) David Hinton, share their views on their separate companies and how practices can benefit from being customers of either, or both.
In a changing world, SMEs (small and mediumsized enterprises) are facing increasingly difficult challenges and veterinary practices are not exempt. Growing corporatisation together with the advent of digital technology and mobile communications have created a new, more competitive landscape in the veterinary market and within it a brand of consumer who now demands not only great clinical care, but a fully rounded package of first-class service. The question for practices is how they keep pace with this change, retain existing clients and acquire new ones, thereby building more 22
successful businesses. One answer is to work with commercial partners who not only supply the products and services a practice needs, but who think beyond the contemporary and help achieve public engagement that fosters a mutually beneficial long-term relationship. A major tenet of the Henry Schein group is to help practices simultaneously deliver excellent clinical care and operate more effective, profitable businesses. With an organisation that serves more than 52,000 veterinary customers worldwide, Henry Schein has
unrivalled experience and understanding of the needs of veterinary professionals and using its global reach has been able to develop answers to some of the market’s most pressing questions. Here in the UK, Vetsolutions and Henry Schein Animal Health (HSAH) have been delivering innovation solutions to veterinary practices for more than 30 years and have never been in a better position, both as individual companies and as collaborative organisations, to provide their respective customers with the means to grow.
By each company concentrating on their key competencies and bringing together their knowledge and experience for the benefit of vets when it is appropriate to do so, Vetsolutions and HSAH have embarked on a series of initiatives which have proved beneficial to all parties. There are a number of areas in which the organisations have created an alliance which has resulted in innovative ideas and practical solutions. Intelligent Inventory is one such example, which combines Vetsolutions’ market leading RoboVet practice management system with HSAH’s Connect ordering system, providing a fully integrated inventory management service. Alan Moody explains more: “Given the fast pace of practice life and with vets constantly in and out of the practice, keeping track of stock is a critical but challenging task. The financial reality is that lost stock items can cost a practice thousands of pounds, reducing profitability and causing unnecessary disruption. We wanted to combine our technical and market know-how to develop a robust system whereby vets could account for stock and identify trends, such as high wastage on particular stock items and track the amount of product remaining in open vials.”
“ By partnering on this project with HSAH we have been able to produce a solution which is fully integrated with RoboVet, enabling precise analysis of where wastage is occurring and facilitating appropriate action. Intelligent Inventory creates reports that detail this information which can be viewed and analysed in real time, providing a fast and accurate control mechanism that enables managers to take swift remedial action where necessary. We believe it is the most comprehensive stock management system available today.”
THRIVE is another example of how the individual skills of Vetsolutions and HSAH have come together to produce a service which provides benefits to veterinary practices in a way that no other company in the sector can emulate. Taking the raw data held within a practice’s RoboVet system, THRIVE first analyses and then benchmarks a practice against a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). HSAH’s THRIVE consultants then take over, working with the practice team to explore those areas where performance shortfalls are occurring and providing recommendations as to how these can be remedied to ensure the practice prospers. Together with the practice an action plan is agreed and the THRIVE Consultant monitors progress, producing monthly reports that clearly indicate where improvements are being made. Aside from these noticeable collaborations, both Vetsolutions and HSAH understand that to provide potential customers with compelling arguments to buy requires them to put ‘clear blue water’ between themselves and their competition, and to do so requires more than just providing good products and services. In the case of HSAH their proficiency in providing next day nationwide delivery, excellent customer service and online ordering is one that simply meets the minimum expectations of today’s practices. To truly differentiate from the competition HSAH has adopted a different strategy, one that has seen them bring exclusive products and services as well as hi-tech innovations to the attention of vets and make a business case for their adoption. David Hinton explains the benefits of such exclusive arrangements: “Supplying exclusive premium products reflects our desire to provide vets with the highest quality products, so they can stand head and shoulders above the competition. A great example of this is Farmina, a hyper-premium range of pet foods, formulated without genetically modified ingredients which is available exclusively from HSAH. Farmina ‘Vet Life’ is the first pet food to use only natural preservatives and contains specific nutrients to satisfy the nutritional needs of cats and dogs. Our other exclusive Farmina product, ‘Natural & Delicious’ is a grainfree, high protein food, which is specifically formulated to combat the problem of obesity. By supplying these exclusive products we believe we are giving vets the means by which they can set themselves apart and as a result, develop and grow their own businesses.” HSAH’s exclusive range does not only relate to consumables, but also extends to the type of innovative technology products that enable vets to offer new treatments and services. The Epic V-series veterinary laser is one such product. A 940 nanometer diode laser, the Epic V is suitable for treating the soft tissue of canines and felines as well as providing the means of offering pain relief therapies, a potentially new source of revenue for many practices and one which is in high demand from clients.
Alongside these products HSAH has also launched a new diagnostic facility providing practices with a fast, reliable service for large and small animals. Test kits contain everything required to take a sample, and a lab testing service enables vets to get accurate results in the minimum of time with transparent pricing that makes billing easy and precise. David concludes:
“ The breadth of our portfolio now extends to every area of a veterinary practice and by creating this synergistic approach we are better able to serve our customers, clinically and in a business sense. Individually, and in our collaborations with Vetsolutions, this strategy is an important part of what makes us stand out from our competitors. ” For Vetsolutions the priority is to ensure practices are aware of the efficiencies and streamlined processes that can be derived from using RoboVet to its maximum potential. Improved client communication processes are now a fundamental part of RoboVet and are resulting in practices being able to retain clients more effectively, whilst innovations such as online booking are enabling vets to keep pace with growing levels of consumer demand being driven by the digital economy. General Manager Alan Moody considers these improvements to be an essential part of Vetsolutions’ remit: “Be it alone or in association with HSAH, Vetsolutions is always looking to provide vets with the tools that can help them take care of their business, enabling them to concentrate on delivering their core service to their clients and animals.” Customers of both Vetsolutions and HSAH are already benefiting from the individual innovations being introduced by each company, but for those vets who are customers of both there are enhanced benefits to be derived from a burgeoning tri-partite relationship. So whether a practice needs to source pharmaceuticals, materials or hi-tech equipment, or wants to investigate the possibilities now available by harnessing the power of digital communication via RoboVet, the Henry Schein family has a tailor-made solution.
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Vetsolutions Insight
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