2026 Annual Meeting & Conference

The Power of Connection: Go all in on People to Elevate Your Practice
Donna Cutting

In a profession challenged by compassion fatigue, long hours, and constant demands, this uplifting, laughter-filled presentation reminds veterinary professionals that connection isn't optional — it's essential.

Through inspiring stories, heartfelt humor, and insights from her 52 Weeks of Connection experiment, Donna Cutting demonstrates how small, intentional moments of connection can rebuild morale, strengthen teams, and foster deeper trust with clients.  Attendees will learn practical ways to create meaningful shared experiences, from brief moments of levity to simple team rituals and compassionate client conversations that foster a sense of belonging and resilience.

Packed with real-world takeaways, humor, and heart, this session leaves participants energized, inspired, and equipped to help every person (and pet!) feel seen, valued, and connected.

By the end of this session, participants will understand the role of connection and shared experiences in reducing burnout and increasing fulfillment in veterinary practice; apply simple, actionable strategies to strengthen relationships with clients, team members, and the broader veterinary community; recognize everyday opportunities to foster empathy, trust, and teamwork by intentionally seeing and being seen; and commit to a 52-week Connection Mindset that supports a culture of belonging, collaboration, and enhanced client care.

From Demos to Daily Practice: Harnessing AI’s Breakthrough Year in Veterinary Medicine
Adam Little, DVM

Track A:  ENGAGE: Heart-Centered Strategies for Retaining Your Team 
Donna Cutting

According to the American Animal Hospital Association, employee turnover in the veterinary profession is 23 percent and rising. While it is often said that nobody wants to work anymore, the reality is that people want to work differently. This practical, solutions-focused session equips veterinary leaders with proven strategies to engage, support, and retain their teams.

Participants will explore practical approaches to employee selection, onboarding, relationship building, and creating cultures of clarity that drive accountability. Attendees will leave with actionable tools to build workplaces where people feel supported, valued, and motivated to stay, regardless of practice size.

By the end of this session, participants will recognize the role of strong leadership in shaping an exceptional employee and resident experience; develop skills to identify, select, and hire team members aligned with practice values and goals; design a welcoming red carpet onboarding experience that prepares and excites new hires; foster respectful and supportive relationships that strengthen team culture; and create a culture of curiosity, clarity, and accountability through listening, clear expectations, and consistent standards.

Track B:  Old Dogs, New Tricks: How AI is Poised to Tackle Your Practice's Known Challenges in Entirely New Ways (and Even Solve Ones You Didn't Know Existed)
Adam Little, DVM

As AI moves from being just a tool to becoming a true team member, hospital managers are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. This session explores how managers can design and deploy automations and AI agents tailored to their hospital's workflows—enhancing efficiency, supporting staff, and improving client experiences.

We'll highlight real-world innovations from companies like Dodo Health and emerging tools like ChatGPT Atlas that enable AI to take direct action online. Attendees will gain insight into how hospital teams can upskill, collaborate with AI, and address long-standing challenges such as client retention and financial discussions in new, strategic ways.

Discover how embracing AI as a teammate can redefine roles, empower teams, and shape the future of hospital management.

Track C: Financial Diagnostics for Veterinary Managers: From Numbers to Action
Ali Todd, CPA

This session provides a practical, executive-level overview of how industry-standardized charts of accounts and financial reporting frameworks support more efficient, informed hospital management. We will begin with a high-level discussion of why standardization matters—how consistent financial structures improve comparability, transparency, and decision-making across departments, facilities, and systems.

Building on this foundation, the session will transition into applied case studies using a sample hospital financial statement. Through these real-world examples, participants will learn how to interpret key financial signals, identify common reporting pitfalls and missed opportunities, and distinguish between structural issues and operational performance challenges.

The program concludes with clear, actionable takeaways. Attendees will leave with specific steps they can apply within their own organizations to improve financial reporting accuracy, strengthen internal communication between finance and operations, and use financial data more effectively to support strategic and operational decisions.

Track A:  Finance
Debbie Hill, CVPM, SPHR, SHRM-SC, CCFP

This program helps practice managers rethink how they analyze spending, profitability, and financial data. Instead of getting sidetracked by minor expenses, participants learn to identify meaningful financial trends and distinguish real issues from normal fluctuations or timing differences in reporting.
The session explores recent AAHA/VMG Chart of Accounts (COA) updates, including new categories for online sales, rebates, parasite preventatives, and subscription-based services, and shows how small costs can accumulate into misleading totals. Attendees will learn how to use a standardized COA as a management tool, gaining insights by refining expense categories without creating unnecessary complexity.
Participants will also understand how to balance detail with usability, align financial reporting with industry standards, and collaborate effectively with accountants for clearer, more actionable data.
Key Learning Objectives:
•    Identify true financial concerns vs. normal variability
•    Understand the impact of timing and data entry on reports
•    Apply updated veterinary COA categories effectively
•    Evaluate subscription and technology expenses
•    Use COA structure to uncover insights without overcomplicating analysis
•    Determine the right level of financial detail for decision-making

Track B:  Regulatory Considerations of the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Beth Venit, VMD, MPH, DACVPM

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being integrated into veterinary medicine; yet, a common misconception is that its use is unregulated simply because the federal government does not directly oversee the technology itself. This misunderstanding can place veterinary licensees at risk for civil liability or disciplinary action by regulatory boards. This session provides a clear overview of the current laws and regulations governing veterinary practice, explaining how they apply to the use of artificial intelligence in clinical settings.

Grounded in the American Association of Veterinary State Boards' white paper, Regulatory Considerations for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Veterinary Medicine, this presentation translates legal and regulatory requirements into practical guidance for everyday practice. Participants will explore key terms related to artificial intelligence and examine emerging risks, including automation bias, hallucinations, and black-box decision-making. The session will also address when client consent is necessary, what informed consent should include, and how increased awareness and best practices can mitigate risk.

Attendees will leave with a stronger understanding of how to integrate artificial intelligence into veterinary care responsibly, how automation bias can influence medical decision making, and how thoughtful use of consent, documentation, and professional judgment can help prevent future civil lawsuits or disciplinary action. 

Track C:  Optimizing Operations: Efficiency Strategies for Veterinary Practices
Lu Olson, DVM and Ashley Richards, CVPM

This program enables veterinary hospital managers to enhance operational efficiency while maintaining high-quality, individualized patient care. Participants will learn how to prepare teams for efficiency initiatives through staff training, doctor buy-in, and smart resource allocation. The session explores exam-room workflow strategies that enable doctors to focus on high-value tasks, enhance client communication, and improve medical record-keeping.

Attendees will also learn how to coach doctors who consistently run behind schedule using supportive, structured approaches and how to leverage practical tools and technology, such as AI scribes, training videos, and creative use of space, to maximize time and resources. The program concludes with strategies for developing sustainable staffing and training models that reduce burnout and support long-term practice growth. 

Roundtable Discussions

Table Talk: Topics TBA

How to Lead From the Heart Without Finishing Last: Shifting the Perception of Your Most Challenging People
Joseph Cope

Join The Empathy Guy, Joseph Cope, as he dismantles the myth of empathy as a “soft skill” and reveals it as a courageous, strategic force in leadership. Joseph introduces Fierce Empathy. It is a skill every leader can strengthen to create space for authentic connection without sacrificing boundaries or burning out. With raw, often hilarious stories from the classroom and the front lines of leadership, this award-winning educator-turned-empathy-expert equips leaders to reduce emotional fatigue and build cultures of trust. This session equips leaders with a skill they can implement before going to bed that night: how to connect deeper, increase personal accountability, and create space for the change that is needed beneath the surface of your organizational culture.

Confronting Decision Fatigue with Macroeconomic Trends
Patrick Luce and Jeremy Bess

Decision fatigue is real. When every week brings a new headline, a new forecast, and a new reason to hit pause, even great teams start to default to “wait and see.”

This presentation is built to break that cycle. We will translate macroeconomic trends into a simple, leader-friendly decision system: what to watch, what it usually signals, and what actions tend to work when conditions shift. We will cover the big drivers, inflation, interest rates, labor, consumer demand, and production, then connect them directly to the decisions that actually move the needle: pricing, hiring, capital timing, budgeting, and growth priorities. No crystal balls. No jargon. No panic-planning. Just a practical set of signals and scenarios that help you trade uncertainty for clarity and turn “we’re not sure” into “here’s our next move.”

Track A:  Leading the Defiant and The Checked-Out: How Transformative Leaders Leverage Empathy as a Skill
Joseph Cope

In this interactive workshop, Joseph Cope, The Empathy Guy, takes Fierce Empathy beyond the keynote and into real conversations. Participants will connect with each other through guided exercises that make the skill of empathy tangible. Stories from the classroom and the front lines of leadership serve as the backdrop for practicing new ways of listening, responding, and creating space. Leaders will experience how empathy strengthens accountability and reduces fatigue when applied with intention. The session is practical, relational, and energizing, giving participants tools they can carry back into everyday conversations and workplace culture.

Track B:  To Err is Human
Lauren Forsythe, PharmD, MBA, DICVP

Medical errors gained national attention with the publication of "To Err Is Human" in the early 1990s; yet errors remain a reality in both human and veterinary medicine. If people are providing care, mistakes will happen. What matters most is how teams respond in the moment, learn from errors, and support those involved.

This session introduces a thoughtful, practical approach to understanding medical errors by shifting the focus from blame to learning and prevention. Participants will explore the role of organizational culture in error prevention, review the initial steps for responding to an error, and examine various methods for evaluating errors to reduce the risk of recurrence. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how to manage medical errors, foster a culture of safety and support, and create systems that promote learning, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Track C:  Hospitality Leadership: How Managers Elevate the Client Journey
Debbie Boone, BS, CVPM

Hospitality in veterinary care is not about being “nice”—it’s about intentional design and consistent leadership. In this interactive session, veterinary managers will learn how to define hospitality, map the client journey, and identify the moments that matter most. 

Track A:  The Coordination Advantage, Part 1: Foundations of Relational Coordination in Veterinary Teams
Joanne Graham, MS, CVPM, SHRM-CP

Veterinary hospitals rely on seamless teamwork across highly interdependent roles; yet many leadership efforts focus on communication skills without addressing the underlying coordination that drives performance. This session introduces Relational Coordination (RC), a research-based framework that explains how relationship quality and communication patterns influence efficiency, engagement, and care outcomes.

Participants will gain a foundational understanding of RC and explore how coordination challenges show up in everyday hospital operations. The session emphasizes practical application, equipping leaders with simple tools to begin improving alignment, trust, and teamwork immediately.

Track B:  Navigating Professional Liability Claims and Board Complaints in Veterinary Practice
Linda Ellis, DVM

Professional liability concerns are an unfortunate reality in veterinary practice and knowing how to respond can make a critical difference. This session focuses on practical risk management strategies to help veterinary professionals confidently navigate client allegations of professional negligence, malpractice claims, lawsuits, license complaints, and financial demands.

Participants will explore everyday situations that lead to adverse events and client complaints, with a special focus on communication challenges during emotionally charged interactions. The session will review when and how to report a potential or actual claim, best practices for reducing liability risk, and the essential role of clear, accurate medical records in defending against malpractice claims or Board complaints.

Attendees will leave with a stronger understanding of veterinary professional liability risk management, clear guidance on what to do and what to avoid when facing a claim or complaint, and practical insight into how thorough medical record keeping can protect both the practice and the practitioner.

Track C:  The Red Zone Advantage: Turning Value into Client Loyalty
Christine Saunders MSc, MPhil, CSC, CM

In a competitive veterinary market, value is what drives client loyalty and protects pricing, but most practices struggle to turn it into something actionable. This fast-paced, hands-on session shows veterinary managers how to clearly define their value and deliver it consistently, every day.

You'll learn how to operate in the Red Zone, where what matters most to clients aligns with what your practice does Unique, Better, or Best (UBB). More than a branding concept, the Red Zone is a practical service strategy that aligns your entire clinic, from the front desk and medical team to leadership and key suppliers.

Through focused instruction and guided workshop time, you'll turn your value proposition into a working framework that sharpens differentiation, aligns your team, and strengthens the client experience. You'll leave with practical tools to mobilize staff, validate your competitive strengths, and bring your most powerful advantages to the forefront of daily operations.

Track A:  The Coordination Advantage, Part 2: Applying Relational Coordination in Veterinary Leadership
Joanne Graham MS, CVPM, SHRM-CP

Building on the foundational concepts introduced in Part 1, this session focuses on applying Relational Coordination intentionally as a leadership and operational practice. Participants will learn how to diagnose coordination challenges, strengthen relationships across roles, and embed RC principles into daily leadership behaviors and routines. This session emphasizes practical leadership application, helping managers move from understanding RC to using it as a tool for sustained team performance and engagement.

Track B:  What Separates Growing Practices from the Rest: Insights from Industry Benchmarking Data
Brittany Yost, CVPM

Why are some practices growing while others struggle to maintain visits, despite similar economic conditions? This presentation draws on multi-year benchmarking data from thousands of veterinary practices to uncover measurable differences in pricing strategy, staffing models, visit mix, and client bonding. We’ll focus on correlations that matter and how practices can use industry data, not gut feelings, to guide sustainable growth decisions.

Track C: New Job, Old Baggage: Transforming Onboarding to Strengthen Trust, Fit and Retention
Lori Kogan

Traditional onboarding helps new hires learn policies, roles, and workplace culture—but it often overlooks the impact of prior job experiences. Employees may carry lingering stress, value conflict, or mistrust from unhealthy work environments, which can influence how they interpret feedback, build relationships, and engage in their new role.
This session introduces transitional coaching as a supportive approach that complements onboarding by helping employees navigate both a new position and the aftereffects of past workplace experiences. Participants will explore how “carryover” affects early adjustment, identify common warning signs, and learn practical strategies to build psychological safety, strengthen values alignment, and improve long-term retention.

Designed for veterinary leaders, this session offers tools to support healthier transitions and stronger employee success.

The Economics of Pet Ownership and Pet Population Trends
Katelyn McCullock and Maisey Kent

In this session, participants will explore the macroeconomic conditions impacting pet 
owners and their decisions in 2026. The realities of income growth, housing affordability, and family dynamics suggest diverging forces shaping pet ownership. Since 1996, the AVMA Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook has captured and tracked statistics on dog and cat owners and pet populations. Dig into these national trends as we look to the future through an economic lens and what it means for veterinary practices. 
 
Learning Objectives:

• Identify insights into the data behind AVMA 2025 Pet Ownership and Demographic 
  Sourcebook.
• Analyze the future of pet ownership against broader economic influences.
• Interpret current economic trends and pet populations to gain expert insights into 
  the demand for veterinary services. 

How is Artificial Intelligence going to Impact you 
Lance Roasa, JD

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant concept; it is actively reshaping how veterinary practices operate today. This session is designed specifically for veterinary practice managers and administrators, providing a practical, plain-language look at where AI is currently appearing in your practice, where it is headed, and what you need to know to lead your team through it effectively. 
  
From automating routine administrative tasks to supporting clinical documentation and inventory decisions, AI tools offer real opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce staff burden, and strengthen the client experience. But adoption comes with responsibilities, and practice managers are on the front line of navigating them.

Referral-Ready Teams: Practical Tools to Elevate GP-Specialist Relationships 
Andi Flory, DVM

This session equips managers to optimize referral medicine and strengthen the GP–specialist partnership—the “Triad of Care" connecting primary care teams, specialists, and pet families. We'll translate current challenges in access and capacity into practical workflows that improve trust, speed, and outcomes. Key focus areas include preparing clients with clear expectations and written guides, ensuring complete and timely records and imaging transfer, and establishing consistent communication habits. 
 
We'll also explore how to enhance client value perception, incorporate affordability tools, and leverage teleconsults to accelerate clinical decision-making and determine when travel is truly warranted. 
 
Attendees will leave with a referral lifecycle map, a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to track, and a 30/60/90-day playbook to formalize specialist partnerships and pilot vet-to-vet teleconsults. The session integrates best-practice insights on client communication, spectrum-of-care framing, and trust-building behaviors from both GP and specialist perspectives, helping reduce delays, minimize rework, and elevate client satisfaction. 
 
Learning Objectives:

• Define a high-reliability referral process and identify KPIs that strengthen GP–specialist collaboration and improve the client experience. 
• Apply best practices for client preparation, records and imaging transfer, and bidirectional communication to reduce delays and rework. 
• Implement a 30/60/90-day plan to formalize specialty partnerships, standardize referral packets, and pilot teleconsults to expand access. 

State of the Cat 2026: Turning Feline Insights into Practice Growth 
Gina Fortunato, MBA

Cats continue to represent a growing share of veterinary medicine, now accounting for approximately 23% of clinical visits and growing, yet significant opportunity remains untapped. In this session, the CATalyst Council presents high-level findings from the 2026 State of the Cat report, grounded in a landmark 60,000-household survey of cat owners. 
 
We will explore how owners perceive their cats, approach feline health, and make decisions about veterinary care. The presentation will discuss, in the pet owners' words, the emotional and practical barriers that influence visit frequency and compliance.  
 
Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of evolving client expectations, emerging demographic trends, and the disconnects that contribute to the feline care gap. 
 
Designed for the Vet Business Trends track, this session translates robust data into actionable strategies to help practices strengthen client relationships, improve feline visit utilization, and capture sustainable growth in an increasingly cat-driven market.