Stop Chasing the Bugs

By: Olayinka Adeyoju, DVM

As a practice owner or veterinary manager, you get saddled with lots of responsibilities, so much so, that you don’t take note of certain important things around you. This is not uncommon as it happens even in corporate businesses. Those things that you and your employees have neglected or failed to tend to build up and form a mountain of – bugs!

They shift your attention from providing top-notch care to your patients. Everyone in your office can be at risk of getting into bed with these bugs. All it takes is unconscious negligence of vital details, poor management, unprioritized agenda, lack of checks and balances, failing preventive measures; and the list goes on and on.

A practice bug will always disguise itself, will let you focus on the unnecessary and eventually slowly take over your practice. This list below might not completely exhaust all the bugs in your practice, but will at least help you to identify the potential ones.

1. Equipment – Failing to routinely service your equipment or the continual usage of a broken one is a potential bug that a practice needs to guard against.
2. Inventory – Not keeping track of the inventory within your facility. An example is not knowing that you are out of an important surgical kit, or shortage of anesthetic supplies.
3. Unplanned schedule – As simple as it sounds, when a schedule is not in order, this can result in a failing appointment.
4. Disorganized practice environment – Having a waiting room, the reception desk or treatment room swarmed with the previous days’ activities slow down the work of the day.
5. Untrained employees – Poorly equipped employees who are always asking questions or who lack decision making skills can eventually be a bug to your practice.
6. Not working as a team – Having a practice full of employees with divided views.

Doing too many things can sometimes make you less efficient and unproductive, but not doing something at all is also a problem. To avoid an upsurge of bug infestations, apply some of the measures below if you haven’t already. They might help you to leverage your practice if followed at all times.

1. Upscaling your equipment – Don’t always wait for the equipment to break before turning them over. You end up spending more time and money to fix them. And it goes without mention to also maintain servicing of equipment. Servicing your medical equipment protects your investment.
2. Start  prioritizing – Align your schedule with the day’s activities by delegating duties and scheduling meetings. Start meetings on time and let your employees know when you are available to consult.
3. Put energy into preventative measures and maintenance– Research has shown that preventative measures are cost effective when properly followed. When you have good prophylactic measures in place you prevent and reduce the spread of a disease.  You get the bugs out while there is still time. Practicing regular inspection of hospital facility is also a good management practice that saves you from unbudgeted expenses with an increased production in the long run.
4. Quality veterinary medicine – Qualitative veterinary medicine entails paying attention to patient history of general well-being, an approach that helps solve the misery of how or why a particular animal is having a continuous health issue.  With qualitative measures, there is an improved understanding and assessment of the disease condition thereby saving your practice from unnecessary client complaints.  Keep the bugs under control!
5. Employ new techniques – Sometimes you might need to employ the expertise of others. If you are used to a particular treatment approach that is not producing satisfactory results, try a new one.  Engage the services of an expert if it means that it solves the problem.
6. Employee empowerment and team work – Further train your employees. Put them through management practice procedures. When this is in place you will not have to repeat the same thing over and over again.  An employee can turn out to be a bug in your practice if he or she does not master the mind of your practice. Emphasize team work in your training, good teamwork means less time to get the job done and higher productivity.

Shawn G. McVey, MA, NISW, writes in the highly informative article, Change is happening. Is your team ready?, “Imagine working at a practice that never buys new equipment, tries new surgical techniques, or prescribes new medications…Businesses that don’t embrace change gets left behind.” So if following McVey’s advice will stop your practice from bug infestation, don’t hesitate to embrace change.

Know that bugs will not always present themselves in the same way, nor be the same in all practices. Sure, they have something in common; the strength to sap production.  So, what are you going to do? Please don’t bug out!

© 2009 Dr. Olayinka Adeyoju

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