Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
VetCentric's home delivery service is now integrated into Infinity
One-Click Home Delivery increases employee efficiency and simplifies home delivery. Additionally, it improves patient health by connecting medical records; each time a client fills or refills a prescription through VetCentric, Infinity is automatically and electronically updated. This strategic relationship highlights our continued technology leadership in the animal health market.
VetCentric is a full service, veterinary-only pharmacy specializing in home delivery. Their complimentary suite of services is designed to help partners improve clinic financial performance; provide a trusted alternative to Internet competition; expand treatment options; increase patient compliance; enhance customer service; and advocate the Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship. In the past 10 years, VetCentric has filled in excess of 2 million orders for nearly 500,000 pet owners.
For more information on VetCentric, please visit http://www.vetcentric.com/. To begin using VetCentric at your clinic, call VetCentric at 866-838-2368.
Learn more at www.impromed.com/vetcentric
VetCentric is a full service, veterinary-only pharmacy specializing in home delivery. Their complimentary suite of services is designed to help partners improve clinic financial performance; provide a trusted alternative to Internet competition; expand treatment options; increase patient compliance; enhance customer service; and advocate the Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship. In the past 10 years, VetCentric has filled in excess of 2 million orders for nearly 500,000 pet owners.
For more information on VetCentric, please visit http://www.vetcentric.com/. To begin using VetCentric at your clinic, call VetCentric at 866-838-2368.
Learn more at www.impromed.com/vetcentric
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Why Home Delivery?
- Improve clinic financial performance
- Provide a trusted alternative to Internet competition
- Expand treatment options
- Increase patient compliance
- Enhance customer service
- Advocate the Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship
Novartis ATOPICA® Rebates are available through VetCentric!
Attention VetCentric partners...
The Fine Print: If you have any questions regarding the acceptance of this offer, please call toll-free 1-800-361-9948. This offer cannot be combined with any other Novartis offer. Offer valid only by mail. Valid only with purchase from the veterinarian. Void where prohibited by law. Purchase must be made between February 1, 2009, and April 30, 2010. Rebate submission must be postmarked by July 31, 2010. Purchase must include at least two (2) packs of ATOPICA capsules. Please allow 4-6 weeks processing time.
ATOPICA® is a registered trademark of Novartis AG.
- Your clients save money when they purchase 2 boxes of ATOPICA®.
- Free standard shipping when AutoRefill is activated.
- Mail-in rebates are valid for purchases made through April 30, 2010.
- The mail-in rebate form automatically prints with the client's paper receipt that ships along with their order.
- There is no limit to the number of ATOPICA® rebates.
- $5 rebate for 10 mg size
- $7 rebate for 25 mg size
- $10 rebate for 50 mg size
- $15 rebate for 100 mg size
The Fine Print: If you have any questions regarding the acceptance of this offer, please call toll-free 1-800-361-9948. This offer cannot be combined with any other Novartis offer. Offer valid only by mail. Valid only with purchase from the veterinarian. Void where prohibited by law. Purchase must be made between February 1, 2009, and April 30, 2010. Rebate submission must be postmarked by July 31, 2010. Purchase must include at least two (2) packs of ATOPICA capsules. Please allow 4-6 weeks processing time.
ATOPICA® is a registered trademark of Novartis AG.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Red Flags rule delayed until June 2010
From DVM NEWSMAGAZINE on Nov 2, 2009
National Report -- A new federal rule aimed at preventing identity theft has been postponed for a third time.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Oct. 30 that the Red Flags Rule, set to go into effect Nov. 1, will not be fully enforced until June 1, 2010. The latest delay comes at the request of Congress, says the FTC, and applies to financial institutions and creditors.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also ruled Oct. 30 that the Red Flags Rule is not applicable to attorneys. But the FTC says the new delay in enforcement for other professions does not affect the separate timeline any possible appeals or "other federal agencies’ ongoing enforcement for financial institutions and creditors subject to oversight."
Identity-theft complaints swelled in 2008 to more than 10 times the number posted in 2000 -- from 31,140 to 313,982 cases in just eight years, according to the Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN). CSN compiles consumer complaints from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Better Business Bureau and other consumer watchdogs.
These statistics, FTC says, are a reminder of how important it is for businesses to make plans early to fight identity theft. It's also the impetus behind FTC's Red Flags Rule. The rule, developed in 2003 by the FTC and other regulatory agencies, went into effect last November, requiring businesses offering credit to develop protocols and implement best practices to prevent identity theft, but it has never been enforced.
National Report -- A new federal rule aimed at preventing identity theft has been postponed for a third time.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Oct. 30 that the Red Flags Rule, set to go into effect Nov. 1, will not be fully enforced until June 1, 2010. The latest delay comes at the request of Congress, says the FTC, and applies to financial institutions and creditors.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also ruled Oct. 30 that the Red Flags Rule is not applicable to attorneys. But the FTC says the new delay in enforcement for other professions does not affect the separate timeline any possible appeals or "other federal agencies’ ongoing enforcement for financial institutions and creditors subject to oversight."
Identity-theft complaints swelled in 2008 to more than 10 times the number posted in 2000 -- from 31,140 to 313,982 cases in just eight years, according to the Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN). CSN compiles consumer complaints from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Better Business Bureau and other consumer watchdogs.
These statistics, FTC says, are a reminder of how important it is for businesses to make plans early to fight identity theft. It's also the impetus behind FTC's Red Flags Rule. The rule, developed in 2003 by the FTC and other regulatory agencies, went into effect last November, requiring businesses offering credit to develop protocols and implement best practices to prevent identity theft, but it has never been enforced.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Shelf Life
Consolidating inventory and targeting trusted products can help veterinary practices thrive on the retail side.
By Dennis Arp from Veterinary Practice News
When Richard Lisk, DVM, started offering five or six different heartworm products for sale to his clients, he thought he was enhancing his service. After all, the more choices the better, right?
Not always. With experience and the help of practice consultant Wendy S. Myers of Communication Solutions in Highland Ranch, Colo., Dr. Lisk decided he wasn’t doing his clients—or himself—any favors by overstocking his retail space.
“Clients don’t always know what products are best. They’re looking for medical advice,” says Lisk, owner and operator of two adjacent veterinary practices in Houston: Bay Glen Animal Hospital and the Feline Medical Center.
So now Lisk carries one heartworm medication, in a 12-month supply, and he still feels the love from his clients. Plus, he frees up room in his hospitals and resources in his budget for other products and equipment.
Practitioners know the decision to sell products as a service to clients comes with limitations. How practices best use their limited space can go a long way toward determining the success of the practice.
Sales of products sometimes account for as much as 15 to 25 percent of a hospital’s revenue, say veterinarians and practice consultants.
Just by consolidating preventive inventory, Lisk’s hospitals are seeing thousands of dollars in financial benefit.
“We’ve been able to trim inventory by 30 to 40 percent or more,” Lisk says. “That’s $15,000 that no longer is on the shelf and instead is in the bank or can be invested in a piece of equipment that can better serve our patients and our practice.”
Veterinarians and consultants agree the first test of product-selling success remains: Are clients getting efficacious products that improve their lives and those of their pets?
“A lot of veterinarians fear selling products,” says Heather McCabe, a sales representative at MWI Veterinary Supply of Meridian, Idaho, who helps practices maximize retail opportunities. “They’re scientists by nature, and they fear being seen as a salesperson instead of as a medical person.”
McCabe says her first step often is to help veterinarians understand that they can both serve clients well and make a profit on products.
So a healthy number of practitioners are on board with developing a retail strategy. Now what?
There seems to be consensus on a just-in-time approach to inventory instead of loading a stockroom with scores of 40-pound bags of food.
By all means, meet clients’ therapeutic diet needs, says Christine Pierson, vice president of sales at Bayer Animal Health, whose sales reps seek to fill a consulting role for practices.
“But if you don’t have a whole lot of storage space, don’t order a season’s worth at a time.”
By carefully managing computerized reorder points on items with consistent sales, practices can limit the need to store bulky items. For a special need, such as a diet formulated just for pugs, the practice can order from an online provider to keep the process seamless from clinic to client.
Having big bags of food in display areas isn’t an effective use of retail space, consultants say.
“Veterinarians will say, ‘Well, I sell so much food,’” McCabe says. “I remind them that the margin is 20 to 30 percent. With, say, a derm product, the margin is 70 percent. Now you don’t sell a derm product every hour like you might with food, but a client doesn’t have to touch and feel a bag of food to buy it.”
McCabe advises against displaying just one or two bottles of a product. “It looks like you might have gotten it for free as a sample and just put it out for sale,” she says. “Better to stock one brand and stock it nicely so it shows you have a commitment to the product.”
Mark Crootof, DVM, of Crootof Veterinary Consulting, works with some severely cramped practices. A 1,500-square-foot New York City clinic lacks even a reception desk on which to place items. In the clinic’s four exam rooms, Dr. Crootof helped devise a system of pull-out product displays. These rooms can be the ideal place to help clients understand the benefits of retail items.
“Even if the product is a shampoo, if the person is in a lab coat, the client is likely to be receptive to the message,” McCabe says.
Consultants say dental items are among the most important products to display and keep available for sale.
Veterinarians talk about dental disease at almost every exam, Myers notes. And clients willing to spend hundreds on a professional cleaning are likely to commit to home dental care.
Myers advises practitioners to bundle a toothbrush with toothpaste, a rinse and perhaps a dental chew—“whatever the practice believes in and can get behind.”
The best staff members are advocates for the patient and the practice, Myers says, citing the example of a popular dental chew that contains 600 calories. Offering an alternative with about one-tenth the calories not only aids pets but can help drive client satisfaction, Myers says.
Lisk notes that when he decided to carry just one kind of heartworm preventive, he educated his staff to ensure a consistent message. He also alerted clients to the change via a letter.
Since the switch, he has tracked compliance to make sure clients weren’t dropping preventive treatment. He has seen compliance grow at the same rate as the practice, he says.
Lisk used to stock lots of food on 5-foot-high racks in the waiting area. Now he has a less-obtrusive display that emphasizes preventives, shampoos, ear cleaners and other products he trusts and can recommend.
The lesson? “Clients don’t come to you for variety,” he says. “They want to know what’s best for their pet.”
This article first appeared in the October 2009 issue of Veterinary Practice News
By Dennis Arp from Veterinary Practice News
When Richard Lisk, DVM, started offering five or six different heartworm products for sale to his clients, he thought he was enhancing his service. After all, the more choices the better, right?
Not always. With experience and the help of practice consultant Wendy S. Myers of Communication Solutions in Highland Ranch, Colo., Dr. Lisk decided he wasn’t doing his clients—or himself—any favors by overstocking his retail space.
“Clients don’t always know what products are best. They’re looking for medical advice,” says Lisk, owner and operator of two adjacent veterinary practices in Houston: Bay Glen Animal Hospital and the Feline Medical Center.
So now Lisk carries one heartworm medication, in a 12-month supply, and he still feels the love from his clients. Plus, he frees up room in his hospitals and resources in his budget for other products and equipment.
Practitioners know the decision to sell products as a service to clients comes with limitations. How practices best use their limited space can go a long way toward determining the success of the practice.
Sales of products sometimes account for as much as 15 to 25 percent of a hospital’s revenue, say veterinarians and practice consultants.
Just by consolidating preventive inventory, Lisk’s hospitals are seeing thousands of dollars in financial benefit.
“We’ve been able to trim inventory by 30 to 40 percent or more,” Lisk says. “That’s $15,000 that no longer is on the shelf and instead is in the bank or can be invested in a piece of equipment that can better serve our patients and our practice.”
Veterinarians and consultants agree the first test of product-selling success remains: Are clients getting efficacious products that improve their lives and those of their pets?
“A lot of veterinarians fear selling products,” says Heather McCabe, a sales representative at MWI Veterinary Supply of Meridian, Idaho, who helps practices maximize retail opportunities. “They’re scientists by nature, and they fear being seen as a salesperson instead of as a medical person.”
McCabe says her first step often is to help veterinarians understand that they can both serve clients well and make a profit on products.
So a healthy number of practitioners are on board with developing a retail strategy. Now what?
There seems to be consensus on a just-in-time approach to inventory instead of loading a stockroom with scores of 40-pound bags of food.
By all means, meet clients’ therapeutic diet needs, says Christine Pierson, vice president of sales at Bayer Animal Health, whose sales reps seek to fill a consulting role for practices.
“But if you don’t have a whole lot of storage space, don’t order a season’s worth at a time.”
By carefully managing computerized reorder points on items with consistent sales, practices can limit the need to store bulky items. For a special need, such as a diet formulated just for pugs, the practice can order from an online provider to keep the process seamless from clinic to client.
Having big bags of food in display areas isn’t an effective use of retail space, consultants say.
“Veterinarians will say, ‘Well, I sell so much food,’” McCabe says. “I remind them that the margin is 20 to 30 percent. With, say, a derm product, the margin is 70 percent. Now you don’t sell a derm product every hour like you might with food, but a client doesn’t have to touch and feel a bag of food to buy it.”
McCabe advises against displaying just one or two bottles of a product. “It looks like you might have gotten it for free as a sample and just put it out for sale,” she says. “Better to stock one brand and stock it nicely so it shows you have a commitment to the product.”
Mark Crootof, DVM, of Crootof Veterinary Consulting, works with some severely cramped practices. A 1,500-square-foot New York City clinic lacks even a reception desk on which to place items. In the clinic’s four exam rooms, Dr. Crootof helped devise a system of pull-out product displays. These rooms can be the ideal place to help clients understand the benefits of retail items.
“Even if the product is a shampoo, if the person is in a lab coat, the client is likely to be receptive to the message,” McCabe says.
Consultants say dental items are among the most important products to display and keep available for sale.
Veterinarians talk about dental disease at almost every exam, Myers notes. And clients willing to spend hundreds on a professional cleaning are likely to commit to home dental care.
Myers advises practitioners to bundle a toothbrush with toothpaste, a rinse and perhaps a dental chew—“whatever the practice believes in and can get behind.”
The best staff members are advocates for the patient and the practice, Myers says, citing the example of a popular dental chew that contains 600 calories. Offering an alternative with about one-tenth the calories not only aids pets but can help drive client satisfaction, Myers says.
Lisk notes that when he decided to carry just one kind of heartworm preventive, he educated his staff to ensure a consistent message. He also alerted clients to the change via a letter.
Since the switch, he has tracked compliance to make sure clients weren’t dropping preventive treatment. He has seen compliance grow at the same rate as the practice, he says.
Lisk used to stock lots of food on 5-foot-high racks in the waiting area. Now he has a less-obtrusive display that emphasizes preventives, shampoos, ear cleaners and other products he trusts and can recommend.
The lesson? “Clients don’t come to you for variety,” he says. “They want to know what’s best for their pet.”
This article first appeared in the October 2009 issue of Veterinary Practice News
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
NAVC and WVC
Be sure to visit VetCentric at the North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) in Orlando and the Western Veterinary Conference (WVC) in Las Vegas.
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