Special Feature – The fall 2015 Henry Schein Animal Health Equine Solution Veterinary Magazine contains an impactful overview of the National Equine Veterinary Economic Study completed in 2013. Veterinarians have responded positively to the data and results.
Source: Henry Schein Animal Health Equine Solution Veterinary Magazine page 12.
Merck Animal Health and Henry Schein Animal Health, with support from the AAEP, conducted a national survey of AAEP member veterinarians with the following objectives:
- To learn about the current economic status of equine veterinary practice and the trends compared to recent years.
- To determine trends in key factors impacting equine practice revenues including number of clients, number of patients, number of patient visits, FTE’s and other related trends.
- To assess the current attitudes and challenges of veterinarians and their clients regarding demand and use of veterinary services and their recent trends.
To assess the current management practices being used in equine practice in an effort to learn what is needed to help equine practices operate in a more profitable manner.
Impact of these Findings – It is important for the industry to see economic trend data such as those in this study so that they get a better perspective for what is real in the equine veterinary economy. Many veterinarians have responded after seeing these data that “it is helpful for me to see this industry-wide data because I have more confidence that the economic rebound I’m seeing in my own practice is real and that it is occurring across the industry. This gives me confidence to invest in my practice for growth, rather than not hiring and not buying equipment to support that growth.”
INSIGHTS: Too often “we” struggle to know how to engage the equine team members especially in the mixed practice. Whether distributor sales rep, manufacturer rep, sales management or brand management, this article and those to follow are significant opportunities to first learn, and then to share the information in the context of how you do business. Kudos to Henry Schein, Merck Animal Health and the AAEP for collaborating with Drs. Blach and Clark to make this information available to the industry openly.