7 STEPS TO BUILD YOUR WELLNESS SCREENING PROGRAM
MVP NEWSLETTER PRACTICE TIP BY JEFF ROTHSTEIN, DVM, MBA
During a recent stint as a doctor at Caputo Animal Hospital, Dearborn MI, I overheard the team talking excitedly about how many wellness blood screens they had “sold” that day and that week. In my travels to our various MVP clinics, it not unusual for a clinic to offer wellness or health screening (the term I often use), but it’s not a given, some do, and some do not. Based on the Caputo teams’ enthusiasm, I assumed they were getting some sort of bonus or reward for each one performed or for reaching a total goal. Wrong once again, to my surprise as I queried the team, was while they had goals, there was no reward or monetary gain for promoting the testing. They were simply excited because they felt they were doing the right thing for the pet; best medicine. I will admit I was quite impressed by their attitude, not about what’s in it for me, but what’s in it for the pet.
My original hospital group (Progressive Pet Animal Hospitals) offered wellness plans at each of our locations and blood and urine screening were included in those plans, so many of our patients had testing performed at least annually. I can tell you firsthand that when you screen you find pathology, regardless of age. The take home is screening leads to better and more medicine.
For clinics wanting to start or enhance their screening programs, consider following the 7-Step program outlined below. Of course, it can be modified to meet each clinic’s individual goals or style of medicine.
1) Educate and ask:
The ideal time to promote a Health Screen is when a patient is visiting for a heartworm test or could be a vaccine visit for our feline friends (let’s not forget them). Don’t many of your clients already believe a heartworm test is a wellness screen? Reality is many clinics now do screening that already includes tick-borne diseases, so the heartworm testing nomenclature is outdated anyway. I’ve had great success offering what I term a Heartworm Health Screen, which includes Heartworm, Tick, Complete Blood Count (CBC) and Blood Chemistry testing. Recommend this test vs. offering a stand-alone Heartworm test. We put this on the client treatment plan and explain/ educate clients on the merits of this test. We may mention that a stand-alone Heartworm test can be performed for x number of dollars if they prefer that, but most want to do what the doctor recommends.
2) Package it & Price it right:
We used to promote the Heartworm Health Screen as a discounted package, but I no longer find this overly advantageous, as sometimes you come off more like a salesperson. Instead, I recommend offering a compelling price for combination testing. For example, if the heartworm/ tick test alone is $50, maybe make the adult wellness screen test with heartworm $99.00. Yes, the team member may say for just a small amount more you can get this important testing done *Wendy Myers, CJV of Communication Solutions For Veterinarians has found that compliance goes up tremendously when we keep the pricing within a certain price range, frankly a price that is hard to refuse. Because we typically can obtain these add-on panels for a very attractive price, there is still ample profit to be made even at a discounted fee. Wendy would argue that you make it up in volume because compliance is much higher. At the end of the day, the pet wins, the client wins, and so does the clinic by doing much more testing and being able to provide better medicine.
3) Differentiate:
The CBC and Blood Chemistry panel that is used should be a slightly abbreviated
panel from what you use for a sick patient so that we are not saying that the
$49 add-on panel is equivalent to the $99 sick patient screen. Consider
making it similar or the same as the standard panel that is used for
Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug (NSAID) screening. This will help
promote starting patients in need on pain/arthritis medicine at this visit, and
the patient can then return in 2-4 weeks for follow up testing for long term
use of NSAIDs as needed.
4) Age Is Not A Disease: (Not Just Seniors) :
Many clinics are good at promoting senior screening, which is excellent and often an easy sell from a client education standpoint (they get
it). I’m a fan of testing all patients of all ages on an annual basis,
and often semi-annual for geriatrics. This habit was developed because we
offered that on all our wellness plans. It simply goes back to “age is not a
disease”, and pets don’t talk. We see sick patients of all ages every day
and when you screen you will often find that kidney disease, liver disease,
diabetes, and cancer do not select by age. So, if your adult screen is $99.00,
then your senior screen, for example, may be $129. It will be a more robust
screen, which may be inclusive of urine as well.
5) Culture: (Not Just Seniors) :
Compliance is only good, when the team, like they did at Caputo, believes in the testing. The best way to ensure this is to lead by example and provide free screening for team member pets (at least one per team member). IDEXX, Antech, and likely other laboratory providers will usually give the team a certain number of free screens per year when asked and given the reason. They realize that if the team is compliant, it’s much more likely that clients will follow their lead. Clinics that believe in this testing will soon find that their passion and confidence lead to many clients performing the testing on an annual basis.
6) Goals: (Not Just Seniors) :
Set targets and goals for the week or month. Teams like a little competition and they also gain confidence and fulfillment when clients adhere to their recommendations. You can do occasional bonuses or reward programs, but no need to go overboard as they really just want to do what is best for the pet.
7) Build Value: (Not Just Seniors) :
Many clinics send pets home with a gift when they have completed wellness testing, bandanas and leashes, to name a few are a big hit with pet parents. In
addition, to enhance the value of testing, either e-mail or send a copy of the
results to your clients with minor commentary on the results. If an abnormality exists a call first to discuss typically makes sense. Seeing the results vs. just a call from a team member saying all is OK, adds value because the pet parent can see what they have paid for and better understand what is being
tested for. Doing this one step leads to a better likelihood that the client
will do testing yearly.
The Standard of Care today in veterinary medicine certainly embraces annual health screening. This screening helps catch many diseases much earlier when the conditions are far more treatable. By following the 7-Step approach outlined above, you can quickly convert or enhance your clinic’s screening program. It’s exciting to watch as compliance improves, medicine improves, and as we say, good medicine is good business!