CVMA | Documents | Choosing the Right Veterinary Health Care Team for You and Your Pet
Choosing the Right Veterinary Health Care Team for You and Your Pet
What is the practice goal for average waiting time for appointments? (Note: emergencies presenting without scheduling will sometimes affect wait times, and client patience is needed on those days!)
Does clinic policy synchronize well with issues of importance to you (house call availability, hours of operation, use of alternative or complementary therapies etc.)?
Are wellness payment plans available? These have become very popular with many people. These plans allow clients to budget for pet health care by spreading costs out over a year (usually with equal monthly payments)
The biggest mistake people often make when choosing the right veterinarian is to select a service/practice based on price. A client will often phone a number of practices, ask them to quote on a procedure, and select the practice offering the lowest cost quote.
TIP: Note that price does not equal quality or value. It is hard to compare prices between practices because different services are bundled within package quotes, and different depths of services are offered between practices.
It is important to remember that practices are also businesses, and overhead, staff wages, and equipment costs are both necessary and considerable. Many people do not realize a veterinary clinic must have the same extensive and specialized expensive equipment (such as surgery suites, X-ray machines, laboratories, and pharmacies all self-contained) as a large human hospital!
Charging reasonable fees helps a practice to thrive and provide optimal patient care, by being able to hire the best staff, afford the best equipment, support staff in their continuing education, and offer you, the client the very best service!
Remember to have an open dialog with your chosen practice, as staff are very willing to assist you so that you have the least stressful (and most competent and effective) service for you and your special four-legged friend. Sometimes just asking for clarification, or for more information about an area of concern can prevent misunderstandings, so do not be afraid to ask away! Then you can be certain you have found the very best health care team for you and your pet.