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How to promote preventative healthcare
Always recommend your PHP if the client is in the practice for anything that is included in the plan.
Brian Faulkner highlights five good moments 

We should always make time to promote healthcare in the busy veterinary day - Brian Faulkner suggests how we can do it.

Brian talked his audience through five ways of promoting good preventative healthcare, without comprising either the practice or the client.

1. Vaccine price checker
Talk to clients about the different options they have.

Brian suggests having three:
  • The basic vaccine option - basic price
  • The basic vaccine plus a flea/tick/wormer pack - a value option
  • The healthcare plan - spreading the cost of preventative healthcare

He pointed out that the cost of a vaccine should not lose the practice a potential client, so you also need to give three good reasons why they should chose you.

2. Preventative healthcare plan (PHP)
Always recommend your PHP if the client is in the practice for anything that is included in the plan. The magic phrase is: “Has anyone talked you through our healthcare plan?” It is also worthwhile to have a PHP poster in both the reception area and consulting rooms.

3. Re-check consultation
Look at the patient's record before they arrive to see if they need any vaccination or parasite control etc. It is much better to do this at a re-check, rather than a first consult, and consider offering restart vaccination courses for the price of the booster.

4. Waiting for the booster consult in reception
While the client is waiting the receptionist can ask them to fill in a form about their pet's health. This is useful data collection, helping to keep client records up to date and helps to cleanse records of old data. It is also worth having a space on the form for clients to fill in any symptoms of concern they have for their pet/s as this can help in the consultation

5. Annual booster
Have a policy on practice healthcare and create forms which can be used at the annual booster consultation. This enables the vet to talk the policy through with the client and plan the best healthcare for the pet.

Brian's final message was to make sure that you note any client refusals of offers such as kennel cough vaccination or the four-week free insurance offers, in order to prevent any comeback from the client at a later date.

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RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Defra to host bluetongue webinar for vets

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will be hosting a webinar for veterinary professional on bluetongue on Thursday, 25 April 2024.

Topics covered will include the transmission cycle, pathology and pathogenesis, clinical signs (including signs seen in recent BTV-3 cases in the Netherlands), and control and prevention.

The session, which will take place from 6pm to 7.30pm, is part of Defra's 'Plan, Prevent and Protect' webinar series, which are hosted by policy officials, epidemiologists and veterinary professionals from Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency. The bluetongue session will also feature insights from experts from The Pirbright Institute.

Those attending will have the opportunity to ask questions. Places on the webinar can be booked online.