For the first time in over two years, revenue growth in July 2022 actually declined compared to July 2021. The number of workdays in July 2022, however, was one less than in July 2021 which may be at least one of the reasons why.
Revenue per unique patient increased 6.1% in July 2022 compared to the same month in 2021, however, patient visit numbers declined significantly (8.9%), and this is what drove total revenue down in addition to the fewer number of workdays.
As noted previously, it is very difficult to see a pattern in revenue and visit growth over the last year or so; growth figures bounce around a lot from month-to-month (see chart below.) The only consistent pattern is in new client numbers which continue to decline dramatically each month.
Lapsing client numbers continue to increase at a high rate. An active patient is defined by VetSuccess as one who has had a medical service in the last 18 months. Active patients grew ~7-9% each month in 2020 and 2021 but growth has been less in 2022 with only a 3.8% growth seen in July 2022.
A lapsing patient is one whose last medical service was 14-18 months ago. These numbers grew about 2-6% from January 2020 through September 2021. Starting in October 2021, however, the number of lapsing patients grew at higher rates with May and June 2022 at 20%+ and July 2022 at 19.6%.
As I mentioned last month, I personally believe the cut off for lapsing patients should be 12 months since the wellness recommendations (vaccines, heartworm tests, etc.) most practices make are “once a year.” Using 14-18 months as the cutoff means there are really a larger number of “late” clients in practices than is shown in these numbers.
It’s still not clear where the “veterinary economy” is going but I think it is definitely softening and practices need to be prepared for that.
There is no question that clients have been more demanding since the pandemic started. Some of that is due to the dramatic changes everyone has been dealing with in their lives but, in all fairness, pet owners haven’t always gotten the level of service and quality of experience they were previously used to. I’m not saying practices are at fault for that; the pandemic was a real challenge for veterinary medicine, and you can only do what you can do. However, this is a good time to make an honest evaluation of your own practice from a client’s viewpoint. If pet owners regularly have to wait even with a scheduled appointment, don’t get their calls returned or find errors in their invoices every time they check out, no wonder they are annoyed. Get rid of toxic employees, fix your systems, and improve the client experience. When times are tough economically and clients may be struggling with whether or not to provide care for their pets right now, those things make a difference.
This is a good time as well to rethink forward booking if it’s not something you are doing in your practice. Forward booking simply means booking the pet’s next appointment before they leave the practice after the current visit. This has advantages for everyone—the client is more likely to bring Fluffy in on a timely basis if the appointment is already on their calendar, the pet will stay healthier if they’re seen regularly and the practice gets the satisfaction of providing pets with better care as well as enjoying the financial return. Like any cultural change in a practice, it will take time until forward booking becomes “the way we do things here.” There are specific things you can do, however, to make implementation of this change easier and faster.
- Discuss the benefits with everyone in the practice. Don’t assume everyone already understands this. Particularly focus on the benefits to the pet and the client and help the team see how those advantages outweigh the hassle of implementing the change.
- Shift your thinking about what clients will or will not do. A few pet owners won’t like the change and won’t make their appointments early, but this isn’t a reason not to implement forward booking. There isn’t a single thing you recommend in your practice that EVERY client accepts. For the majority of clients, forward booking shifts the responsibility for scheduling the visit away from them and this means it’s much more likely the pet will be seen on a timely basis.
- Remember that forward booking works best when the exam room team and the front desk teamwork in tandem with each other. Most practices have found that including the doctor in these conversations makes a difference in client willingness to forward book the first time. It doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming; the doctor can say something like this as they are wrapping up the appointment: “Max is all up to date on his vaccinations and parasite protection and, if everything goes well, we won’t need to see him again until this time next year. Chelsea will set that appointment up for you before you leave so you don’t have to worry about it.”
Fortunately, there are several resources available to help with making the transition to forward booking. One in particular is the Partners for Healthy Pets website which includes multiple videos for team training: https://www.partnersforhealthypets.org/resources-toolbox/forward-booking/
➤ Download Insiders' Insights - KPI, August 2022 Report
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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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