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Insiders' Insight KPI - September 2021

By VHMA Admin posted 09-14-2021 06:22

  

Included in the graphic below are the August, 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. 

VHMA Insiders' Insight KPI Chart September 2021It continues to be difficult to predict the future in veterinary medicine; not that it was ever easy but perhaps easier?  Shown below is revenue growth and patient visit growth data from the VetSuccess sample of about 3,000 practices over the last six months compared to the same six months in 2020.  March and April numbers look crazy but remember these showed growth in two very busy months in 2021 compared to two very slow months in 2020 so these numbers aren’t meaningful as a predictor.  June and July shows more “real” growth—two busy months in 2021 compared to busy months in 2020 but with a downward trend.  In August, however, that trend reversed and growth rose significantly again.  So what’s going to happen in September?  Will we see a slow down with the end of summer? 

VHMA Insiders' Insight KPI Chart 2 2021

We are, however, seeing a continuing downward trend in the number of new clients seen in these practices.  The increased number of new clients seen during the pandemic was likely due to an increase in actual new pets obtained by pet owners and to clients bouncing around from practice to practice in search of care they couldn’t get as quickly as they wanted at their own practice.  This trend may indicate the clients with new pets have gotten the initial care needed and the previous clients are settling down at either their original practice or another they found.

VHMA Insiders' Insight KPI Chart 3 2021 

One thing that continues to be clear is that practice efficiency and productivity isn’t as strong as it was pre-pandemic.  The AVMA just published data showing a decline in the number of patients seen per doctor per hour in 2020 vs. 2017-2019—https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2021-09-15/are-we-veterinary-workforce-crisis—and this confirms that what many have seen going on in their own hospitals is a profession-wide issue.   Adding more team members is one way of solving this but not one that is easy now and won’t be easy again for some time. 

In the July post, I mentioned a starting point metric for measuring efficiency (hours per transaction) and some first steps to take in improving productivity.  In this post we’ll expand the discussion of productivity/efficiency metrics.

Obviously one of these is the metric used by the AVMA—number of patients seen per doctor per hour.  Revenue per full-time-equivalent (FTE) doctor (whether overall practice revenue or medical revenue only) is another way of measuring doctor productivity and one that many practices are used to doing already.

Total practice revenue (or medical revenue only) per FTE non-doctor employee can also be used to measure non-doctor staff efficiency in addition to the hours per transaction metric mentioned above.

Efficiency isn’t just about how well we utilize doctors and other team members; it’s also about how well we utilize other assets.  Several facility metrics include:

  • Total practice revenue per square foot of the facility
  • Total practice revenue per exam room
  • Total practice revenue per hour of operation

Looking at surgery room size and usage and occupancy of boarding space also helps understand facility efficiency.

Improving productivity and efficiency via technology, better team training and improved workflow is going to be an increasingly important area of focus and way of solving the hiring problems most practices are facing.

 Download Insiders' Insights - KPI, September 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.


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