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Become a
Pet-Centered Practice |
The Third Wave in
Veterinary Medicine - the Pet
Centered Practice
Excerpts from
Michael Haas, DVM,
AVH Veterinary Group, Bangor,
Pennsylvania
Have you ever
spent a moment imagining what our
patients experience when they visit
any of our facilities. What are they
thinking? What are they
feeling? We focus our efforts on
their physical pain in order to make
a diagnosis and enact a proper
treatment plan, but how much
consideration do we give to the
emotional aspects of our patients’
visit? With today’s pell-mell pace
of practice it’s easy to lose
sensitivity to how the patient may
be viewing his visit as we go about
our task of diagnosing and treating
the
physical problems.
Forty years ago a
veterinarian had to do little more than put up a
shingle and he was inundated with business.
Practices were generally small and somewhat
homey places. A bond between the practitioner,
the client and their pet was easily maintained.
In fact, our profession and our practitioners
were grounded in that relationship to such an
extent that no label such as “human animal bond”
was necessary or utilized - it was taken for
granted. Everyone just assumed that Doc loves
animals. In fact, no assumption need be made.
The pet owner could intuitively experience Doc’s
spirit and compassion.
Imagine (or
remember) what it was like to run a
practice when there was little
overhead in equipment, no OSHA
regulations, vague labor laws, and
little inventory management. A
veterinarian really could focus on
the patient! The veterinary
facility was a small operation, the
support staff had fewer duties and
the veterinarian, with a paucity of
weapons in his armamentarium with
which to fight disease, relied more
on bed-side manner and utilized a
more tactile approach in his
administrations.
Compassion Deficit?
Knowledge and technology have
exploded in the ensuing decades and as 21st
century veterinary physicians we now have access
to oceans of information and incredible tools to
aid in patient care. We can offer our patients
so much more in effective medical and surgical
care than our colleagues of decades past but
this progress has come at a cost. When I compare
this empirical, detached attitude, so common
today, with the empathy of our predecessors, I
become a bit nostalgic. How much of this
detached aloofness has now set seed even in
today’s general practices?
These issues were on my mind
last August when I attended the PVMA meeting in
Hershey. I went specifically for three days of
lectures on behavior by Rolan Tripp, DVM,
founder of www.AnimalBehavior.Net. You may have
seen some of Dr. Tripp’s published works or
caught him on Animal Planet. The primary focus
of his lectures was how to build behavior care
into the general practice.
Rolan is an extremely
engaging speaker. The first lectures, as
evidenced by a hand count, were attended mostly
by technicians and assistants. As the sessions
went on, word got out – each succeeding lecture
brought more and more people until, by the end
of the second day, the room was SRO. As Rolan
spoke, what I heard beneath the advertised topic
was a unique practice approach.
If the “old days” featured
the “vaccine practice,” and the second wave
during the 1990’s saw our profession move toward
the “client focused practice” with separate dog
and cat reception areas, coffee in the waiting
room, etc., where the progressive practice is
moving in the 21st century is toward
the “the third wave” or “the pet-centered
practice.” The crux of this concept is the
enhancement of our clients’ relationships with
their pets. Yes, of course we should be
addressing behavioral issues involving our
patients, but more than that it is incumbent
upon us to set the proper example by engaging
them in the most positive ways while they visit
and reside in our facilities.
Rolan Tripp, DVM.
obtained his veterinary degree from
U. C., Davis in 1979 after attaining
an undergraduate degree in music.
His minor in college was in
philosophy with a special focus on
ethics and logic. His interest in
animal behavior developed after
discovering that behavior is the
most common concern for pet owners,
and the most common cause of
euthanasia in pets. Dr. Tripp would
approach the subject of developing
the pet-centered practice detailing
the roles of each member of the
veterinary staff.
Receptionists would learn how to
instruct clients on the telephone to
prepare for their visit so as to
reduce the stress on their pets and
even make the experience enjoyable.
They would also learn behavior
techniques that could be utilized to
get dogs to sit during the weigh-in
and to manage barking or
confrontations between pets in the
reception area.
Veterinarians, technicians and
assistants would learn how to make
the best first impression with the
pet. Distraction techniques for
unpleasant procedures and restraint
procedure for tame, fractious and
downright wild patients would be
addressed. We would also learn
to recognize all-important
body-language signals from our
patients – submissive, fearful and
aggressive postures. As long-time
practitioners we read these messages
almost instinctively, but how well
do we teach our staff to know what
the patient is communicating?
The kennel team will
learn how to reduce stress in hospitalized
patients, feeding techniques that keep dogs
engaged and how to recognize behavior cues that
indicate pain or stress, as well as techniques
for safe animal handling. We could also cover
the integration of puppy kindergarten and adult
behavior classes if you don’t already operate
these in your hospital, and secrets to improve
the classes if you do.
Rolan has also developed a system that
allows the general practitioner to incorporate
behavior medicine into the practice, or to
augment a program that is already in place.
Utilizing an on-line consultation and library
system (AnimalBehavior.Net), the veterinarian
can become involved as much or as little as she
likes while solving clients’ behavioral
concerns. I see such a meeting as extremely
rewarding and full of immediately applicable
knowledge and techniques. I attended the PVMA
meeting with two of our staff members and we put
some new procedures into place immediately and
saw very positive results right away.
Our staff loves this approach and they truly get
greater enjoyment from the work day. Clients are
pleased when they see their pet actually enjoy
the visit rather than responding to doctor and
staff member with fear.
I can’t say that we no longer have
frightened patients but I can tell you that we
have won over many that in the past would have
put us on their fecal roster. A group meeting
would also be an opportunity for our staffs to
get together and exchange experiences, ideas and
war stories.
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