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As discussed last month, March 2021 and April 2021 growth looked very dramatic on paper, but much of this was due to the choice of the comparison months; i.e., very strong months in 2021 were compared to the same months in 2020, which happened to be the worst months seen in years in almost all practices. While growth in May 2021 doesn't look as strong as in March and April, we don't know if this is due to a real softening in growth or we still see some monthly comparison issues. Most practices still saw declines in revenue in May 2020, so any comparison to that month is not very meaningful; with the data we have, it isn't possible to determine how much of this is "real" growth and how much is just a recapture of the caseload that would have been seen last May had the pandemic not hit the U.S. Many practices are hitting their spring and summer busy times as well which is putting upward pressure on growth.

Included in the graphic above are the May 2021 VetSuccess revenue metrics shown on the Insiders' Insights KPI dashboard (https://www.vhma.org/resources/insider-insights) as well as placeholders for other related metrics that should also be reviewed regularly in order to get a full picture of what's going on in a practice. To get a better feel for how things are changing in your practice, use the methodology we outlined in last month's blog.

No question, however, that we are moving back into a more normal way of life all around. Restaurants and stores are busier than they've been in a while, people are traveling again, and practices are moving away from curbside-only. How long are the accelerated growth rates seen in many practices going to continue? Not sure my crystal ball is perfect, but I think practices will keep the additional revenue they've added to the practice as we move forward, but growth rates will slow. So if your practice grew to $2,000,000 in revenue in 2020 with a 15% growth rate, I don't see the $2,000,000 declining but think the rate won't stay as high as 15%. When is this softening going to occur? My best guess is this fall after the spring and summer busyness surges are over, and people are more fully back to their normal activities.  

So, as a practice, what should you be thinking about as we move back into the way things used to be?

The two most important issues moving forward are staff mental health and morale and client service/retaining clients.

Many veterinary team members are just worn out from work and the strain of dealing with the pandemic in both their personal and professional lives. Team members who have been willing to do what it takes to serve clients during the pandemic may not be able (or willing) to do that forever. As things slow down, changes that may not have seemed possible earlier on need to happen now, including:

• A return to more regular work schedules
• Regular time off—days off, vacation, PTO, etc.
• Catch up time off—vacations, PTO, etc.
• Reduction in regularly expected overtime.
• Reduction in the pressure to see more clients, work harder, do more stuff
• Time to take a lunch break/time to think during work
• Return to normal practice hours of operation if hours were increased
• Continued or additional recognition and support of employee efforts
• Re-evaluation of pay scales—are they fair in a continually changing market?
• Improved staffing where appropriate—it's a tough hiring market, but if you can't find people, the first step is a brutal assessment of why? Is it because there aren't people out there who want to work, or they don't want to work at your practice because the culture, pay, and benefits aren't attractive?

Providing great client service has been harder during the pandemic because of the restrictions on how care could be provided and the sheer volume of clients and patients needing to be seen. Many practices have done well under difficult circumstances, and many clients have been understanding, but this is still an area that may need attention. The first thing to do is an in-depth assessment of what has worked well with clients and what hasn't. What have clients complained about during the pandemic, and how can those areas be corrected moving forward? Even if client complaints were unreasonable during the pandemic and little could be done about them at the time, as normality returns, clients will expect more, and even the understanding ones will become less understanding. One of the difficult things about meeting client needs is that what the practice needs to change to do this may conflict with what it needs to do to improve team members' mental health and morale. For example, if more team members are needed to serve clients, how can regular work schedules and time off be observed? This is where technology and improved efficiency in the workflow can help. From a technology standpoint, what worked well during the pandemic that can be continued now? What in-person interactions can be replaced by technology even when people start coming back into the clinic?

Your practice may still be so busy that increased focus on these areas doesn't seem possible today, but these are the areas that will require focus ASAP. Even baby steps now can help.

➤ Download Insiders' Insights - KPI, June 2021 Report

➤ VHMA Members can access the dashboard to drill down by region, species, and practice size filters, access the interactive KPI dashboard

Data review and commentary is provided by Karen E. Felsted, CPA, MS, DVM, CVPM, CVA of PantheraT Veterinary Management Consulting, www.PantheraT.com.