2022 Annual Meeting & Conference

Organizational Design
Speaker: Nate Thompson
Designing your organization from the Outside-In helps you align employee behaviors with client expectations to deliver real value and helps you compete in the market. Improved organizational alignment helps you attract the right employees and increases employee satisfaction and retention. Organizational design can be applied to challenges large and small and can become a vital tool for your organization.

Track A: Preview of the VHMA Organizational Diagnosis and Design Toolkit and Panel Discussion
Speaker: Nate Thompson
Given the attraction, retention, and other workforce-related issues facing the veterinary industry, how can we identify strategies to address these issues at the practice level effectively? We will preview a toolkit to help you diagnose the root cause of challenges facing your organization, design solutions, and drive change at the behavioral level. Panel discussion and Q&A led by Nate Thompson from the RBL Group with VHMA member volunteers from the toolkit pilot group.

Track B: Creating, Maintaining, and Adjusting a Strategic Plan 
Speaker: Brian Conrad, CVPM
This session will provide an in-depth look at how and why to create and maintain a comprehensive strategic plan. Learn what belongs and doesn’t belong in a strategic plan; attendees will walk away equipped to go back and help facilitate a personalized strategic planning session with their ownership and leadership teams. The strategic plan will be a roadmap and compass to consult on all major decisions and directional changes for the hospital.

Track C: Why KPIs are PBDs (Pretty Big Deals) & How to Measure Yours
Speakers: Brett Robertson, CPA and Robin Deal, CPA
What's so important about Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)? Everything! Learn how calculating your Veterinary Practice's KPIs can help you make short and long-term assessments of your practice's financial health.

In this informative course, we will tackle how KPI's can empower you to:
• Benchmark your practice
• Make year-to-year comparisons
• Set costs for goods and personnel based on revenue streams and profit margins
• Analyze DVM Production
• Make inventory management decisions
• Effectively use Quickbooks to manage and KPIs

Let's start with the big picture and then dig deep into how YOUR practice can learn from its KPIs.

Track D: How to Inspire Leadership in Team Members
Speaker: Debbie Newhouse, LVT, CVPM, MBA
Good leadership skills increase team member motivation, but your leaders do not need to be managers or owners. Getting your team members involved in leadership decisions and tasks can reap benefits resulting in greater trust, engagement, and empowerment. In this session, you will learn how to inspire team members to become leaders in your emergency/referral practice.

Roundtable Discussions

Table Talk: Break the ice
Meet your neighbor. Go around the table and introduce yourself. What is your managerial superpower and what is your Achilles heel? What are you hoping to learn that will turn your Achilles heel into a superpower when it comes to management? Peer-to-peer discussions are excellent ways to get/receive feedback, engage in in-depth discussions, and meet colleagues with similar interests!

Roundtable Discussions

Table Talk: Break it down
Regroup. Revisit what you learned from each session of the day to discover what you might have missed or share with someone else what they might have missed. Tackle questions together ranging from strategic planning to budgeting and more. Collaborate with your peers on a deeper level to elevate your managerial style and further each other’s education.

Track A: What Will Get You Sued in 2022
Speaker: David Miklas, P.A
Come early because this session will be packed! David uses a fast pace to cover tons of examples of dangerous things that can get you sued. Expect >100 slides to be covered with examples spanning risky actions involving wage and hour violations, multiple discrimination, and retaliation issues. This session uses recent, ripped-from-the-headlines examples and is not just a boring list of laws and regulations.

Attendees will learn:
1. What are the biggest risks employers are taking in 2022 that will get them sued.
2. The biggest mistakes employers are making when they fire employees.
3. Simple things you can do IMMEDIATELY to reduce your chances of EEOC charges of discrimination and employment law litigation.

Track B: Are You Running Your Business, or is Your Business Running You? (Part 2)
Speaker: Ken Bogard
As a continuation of Part 1, this program will lead participants through a detailed, hands-on session designed to equip business leaders with strategies to create a unified company vision, identify measurable business goals, provide insight with real-world examples and case studies, and implement a handful of timeless principles. Attendees will receive a copy of "Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business" and a conference workbook. The extended length and hands-on format of this session make it an ideal event for businesses that are new to the Entrepreneurial Operating System® or those already running EOS in their organizations and will equip business leaders with practical tools and methods for becoming true employers of choice.

Led by Certified EOS Implementer® Ken Bogard, this live event will help you:
• Understand the six keys to build a truly great organization
• Learn how to get everyone focused on achieving a clear company vision
• Begin to instill discipline and accountability throughout the organization
• Roll up your sleeves and confront organizational issues head-on
• Strengthen your business and produce powerful results

Track C: Leveraging Veterinary Technicians Today and Tomorrow
Speaker: Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (Nutrition)
Veterinary hospitals around the country have been busier than ever during the COVID pandemic amplifying the shortage of veterinary technicians, which has existed for several years. Unfortunately, veterinary technicians in practice are often not leveraged to their full potential. Veterinary technicians who are encouraged to continue to learn, grow professionally, and use critical thinking and technical skills report improved career satisfaction and are more likely to stay with the practice.

Track D: The Intersection of HR and Practice Culture (Part 1)
Bridge the Gap: From Existing to Ideal Culture
Carolyn, Becker, CVT, CVPM, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
This session presents how practice owners and managers can leap from the existing practice culture to the culture we aspire to.
• Identify existing culture
• Define ideal practice culture
• Barriers to reaching ideal practice culture
• Steps to close the gap

Track A: Hire By Design – Using Design Thinking to Create Your Hiring Process
Speaker: Jodi Brandstetter
Finding and hiring talent is hard, especially when it is just one piece of your job! So how can you create a hiring process that works for you, your team, and candidates? Design thinking is a human focus problem-solving method that can help you make the best hiring process for you, your team, and your candidates. During this session, Jodi Brandstetter will demonstrate how to use design thinking when building your hiring process, plus provide you with the time to create your own hiring blueprint.

Track B: Creating and Implementing an Annual Operational Plan
Speakers: Brian Conrad, CVPM
An operational plan is not the same as a strategic plan – Brian will demonstrate how the two differ and complement each. This session will provide instruction on creating a cohesive annual operational plan to ensure you and your team stay focused throughout the year.

Track C: The Pitfalls of Price Setting
Speakers: Brett Robertson, CPA and Robin Deal, CPA
The times, they are a-changing…thanks to inflation, competitive compensation demands, and supply chain challenges. That's why price-setting becomes a pitfall your practice must avoid. In this program, we will look at ways to stay out of the price-setting bind by studying the variables that impact pricing. We will study:
• Staff compensation and the correlation with pricing
  - Balancing the cost of hiring and retaining with profitability (KPIs)
  - Using technology to improve efficiency
  - Strategic pricing initiatives to compensate for increased wages (staff and DVM)
  - Set compensation tiers and review annually
• Practice Manager's role and impact on pricing
• Price testing
  - Priority being high volume services
  - Price shopping shopped items
• Fixed and variable cost considerations
• Inventory management – how it impacts pricing
• Vendor negotiations

Track D: When Good Days Go Bad: Incident Response for Veterinary Hospital Managers
Speakers: Linda Ellis, DVM and Matt Gilmore
This 90-minute session will focus on two important areas of risk management in veterinary practice: Professional liability (malpractice) and workers' compensation (post-injury best practices).

Dr. Ellis will begin the discussion with how to respond in the event of an adverse event related to patient care and allegations of negligence by a client. Situations like these are difficult for everyone involved, and communication with upset clients can be a challenge. Dr. Ellis will cover common questions, including disclosing a medical error and responding to client demands for reimbursement of fees and payment of subsequent veterinary costs. She also will discuss what to do when a client wages a negative social media campaign and when you should report a potential or actual claim.

Dr. Ellis will highlight some best practices when working with students and volunteers, as this is a common practice in veterinary medicine. She will discuss issues related to training, supervision, and what happens in the case of an adverse accident in which a student or volunteer is involved.

Matt Gilmore will explore the best practices and potential challenges to managing an employee after an injury. He will provide an overview of the injury management process, including best practices for injury investigation, root cause analysis and corrective actions, and return-to-work strategies.

He will present critical milestones in an injury and identify best practices to maintain control using the "corridor of care," a model created by Travelers Insurance, the largest workers' compensation insurance writer.

This presentation will be an interactive discussion using actual claims and case studies from the veterinary field. It will incorporate example forms, checklists, and policies to help you manage professional liability risk and team injuries at your practice.

Track A: Outside the Box Recruiting Strategies that Work
Speaker: Jodi Brandstetter
Where are all the candidates? How can I engage candidates? What are the best recruitment strategies for me? When creating recruiting strategies, you need to understand your candidate, where to find your candidates, and how to engage your candidates. During this session, Jodi Brandstetter will provide you with her Candidate Persona template and help you find creative ways to connect with candidates. By the end of the session, you will have several different recruitment strategies to use when you are back in the office.

Track B: Using Your Profit and Loss Statement to Manage and Grow Your Practice
Speaker: Amy Williams, CVPM
Focusing on what you can control daily within your practice is the best way to help grow your practice. This presentation will focus on three categories: Revenue (pricing strategies), Inventory, and Labor Costs (DVM and Staff). Within each category, we will review strategies and techniques to improve operations for better outcomes.

Track C: The Future of Productivity-How Automation Can Boost Your Practice’s Efficiency
Speaker: Craig Spinks
Automation might sound like an idea out of a sci-fi movie (and it is), but it’s easier than you might think to utilize automation using readily available tools. In this session, we’ll discuss what automation is, introduce you to some tools that can help you automate tasks that consume your team’s time, and provide some use-cases to get you started.

Track D: PANEL DISCUSSION: Manager Wellness: Sharing Cheers and Fears with Peers
Moderator: Tiffany Consalvo, CVPM
Manager Wellness is not a creative phrase; it is a necessity that is often helped and hindered by the highs and lows of the position. Who better to help you navigate them than peers? Gain ideas and insights from a panel of fellow managers during this "tell-all" program. Chances are good that you will leave with new ideas to add to your repertoire.

Track A: Discipline Done Right – Best Practices
Speaker: David Miklas, P.A
Almost every day David shares employment law horror stories on social media. Many of these involve employers not using the most effective discipline techniques. This session presents the best practices human resource professionals should be using when they discipline employees. Although many human resource professionals have experience disciplining employees, this session is presented by an experienced employment lawyer who can explain the legal dangers of sub-optimal discipline actions.

Attendees will learn:
1. How to handle the low-level discipline issues that come up every day.
2. How to make sure your discipline withstands scrutiny from the EEOC, NLRB, DOL, and lawyers.
3. New tools that you never thought of or forgot about.

Track B: Turning Insights into Foresight: Using Data to Get Ahead of Veterinary Trends
Speaker: Sheri Gilmartin, CVT
The business of veterinary medicine is evolving at lightning speed. Keeping pace certainly requires a solid grasp of current trends, but superhero-level practice leaders also use data to take control, plan ahead and proactively get in front of challenges. In this session, we'll explore client, patient, and revenue data to get a sense of where we're at and where we're headed as an industry. Flex your forward-thinking muscles with data from over 5,000 practices as your sidekick.

Track C: Coaching: Why It’s Important for your Veterinary Practice
Speakers: Kristen Dugan, DEL, RRT, RPSGT and Sarah Helss, DEL, MS
This session will explore the shift of the manager becoming a coach and how coaching becomes integral to the development of a learning culture. Coaching for development is a relational process performed by those inside the organization. Participants will complete a personal assessment tool prior to the workshop. The tool will be used in small groups to demonstrate how personalities and communication styles may influence and guide the coaching relationship. The exercise is for self-awareness and development to include an emphasis on developing both the target audience (future and emerging leaders in the practice) and also on key influencers (workshop participants) that will have an impact on the target audience. Benefits of coaching include improved communication and interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, attitudes and motivation, and management performance. Embracing a coaching culture is a commitment to growing your practice through empowering your people.

Learning Outcomes:
• Define coaching for development
• Develop a broader understanding of coaching for development, not just for performance
• Understand how personalities and communication styles guide coaching
• Apply tools provided in session to empower team members and sustain a productive practice culture

PRE-WORK:
If you plan to attend this session, please review and complete the following pre-work. You will get the most out of the session by completing the pre-work. Participants are to complete the DISC Assessment no later than September 5, 2022. Results will be emailed to the session facilitators and shared with the attendees before the session for review. To take the assessment, go to the following link https://www.finxs.com and use the Access Code: ENG-UofC. If you have questions or need assistance, please email kristendugan@ucwv.edu.

If you have completed DISC in the past two years, you can send a copy of your results to kristendugan@ucwv.edu.

Track D: The Intersection of HR and Practice Culture (Part 2)
Leveraging Human Resource Strategies to Uphold Culture
Carolyn, Becker, CVT, CVPM, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
This session covers both sides of the coin; ways to weave culture into your daily human resource (HR) practices and using HR processes to maintain the integrity of your culture.
• Shifting from transactional HR to a practical people approach
• Setting cultural conduct expectations
• Holding people accountable for cultural alignment
• Responding to culture-related conduct concerns

Roundtable Discussions

Table Talk: Bring in the experts
Follow along with a subject matter expert as they facilitate a group discussion on a special topic of their choosing. Apply your superpower to the discussion. Learn from your professional colleagues and allow them to learn from you!

Table # - Table Moderator - Table Topic
1 - Janine Kakoyannis Youngblood, CVPM - How are you developing leaders in your practice? What’s been the most effective?
2 - KimberlyAnn Mackey, CVPM - Effective de-escalation techniques for dealing with upset staff or clients
3 - Danielle Quinton, RVT, CVPM - Reaching 30% Net Goal
4 - Susie Crockett, CVPM - Setting boundaries for Yourself
5 - Scott Zimmerman, BFA, CVPM - Hospital Finances - P&L, Balance Sheet, Budget vs. Actual, AR&AP, Chart of Accounts, KPI - How to use the numbers to manage your practice and not give you a headache! Determining the critical numbers, you need to know and sharing this information with your team.
6 - Leslie Boudreau, BASVT, RVTg, CVPM, PHR, PHRca - Building an HR Department of One through automation and delegation.
7 - Kim Hettinga, BSN, CVPM - Using stay interviews to increase retention.
8 - Meghan Bingham, CVPM - Stop trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Stop creating positions for people that aren’t a good fit.
9 - Karli Carter, CVPM - Working remotely – the pros and cons. What types of work can be done remotely, managing your time, and getting staff on board.
10 - Kim Jacobs, CVPM, CCFP - Calming the storm. How to calm upset clients without discounts, freebies, or losing them
11 - Jessica Molina, CCFR, CVPM, PHR - Risk Management – Protecting your clinic from theft, fraud, and adulteration.
12 - Michelle Gonzales-Bryant, CVPM - Transitioning from private practice to corporate practice management.
13 - Ben Spinks, MBA, CVPM, SPHR - Using automation to boost your practice’s efficiency.
14 - Chris Cesnea, CVPM - Studying techniques for the CVPM exam.
15 - Allison Rye, RVT, CVPM - Adding urgent care services to a general practice
16 - Kristie Buys, CVPM - Having a solid clinic culture matters during challenging times.
17 - Kim Fegan, CVPM - Navigating regulatory agencies.
18 - Tiffany Consalvo, CVPM - DISC – The benefits of learning your communication style.
19 - Janal Purtlebaugh - Addressing the mental health of staff and doctors.
20 - Barbara Janiak, CVT, CVPM - Internal leadership development training in ER/Specialty.
21 - Des Whittall - Non-DVM Ownership – are you ready?
22 - Kate Hart, CVPM - Expanding patient care through technician utilization.
23 - Kyle McAllister, CVPM - Maintaining and improving practice culture-what are you doing.
24 - Katie Hill, CVT, CCFP, CVPM - Hiring and recruiting strategies.
25 - Scott Burton, MBA, CVPM - Focusing on practice culture.
26 - Patti Christie, CVT, CVPM - Setting your practice apart from others with wellness plans and loyalty programs.
27 - Marian Rowland, CVPM - Keeping your people in a climate of wage warfare.
28 - Ken Merrill, CVPM, PHR - Multi-facility management: making the transition to corporate leadership.
29 - Amanda Proud, CVPM, SPHR - Change management.
30 - Jodi Fisher - Enrichment isn’t just for pets. Help make your team feel fulfilled.
31 - Misha Hanewinckel, CVPM - Staff meetings. How often you should have them, the agenda, and how to make them fun.
32 - Alexis Key, CVPM - Reading and making sense of financial data.
33 - Pauline Saraka, CVPM - How to keep your cool when clients get upset.
34 - Michelle Campoli, CVT, CVPM - Using our practice management software to improve efficiencies.
35 - Johana Beresky, CVPM - Finances made simple. What managers need to focus on and how to share KPI’s with your team.
36 - Molly Lautzenheiser, CVPM, BSBA, CCFP, SHRM-CP, MAPPCP - Career mapping and how to coach your team to success.
37 - Melissa Tompkins, BS, CVPM, PHRca, CCFP - Following your dream. Stop being afraid to make the change in your career to better yourself or to do something bigger.
38 - Elizabeth Fritzler, DVM, CVPM - Exploring and managing remote work opportunities with your staff.

Track A: Centering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Your Veterinary Practice
Speaker: Christina V. Tran, DVM
In this program, participants will explore foundational concepts and terminology regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We will discuss why addressing DEI is a critical piece in creating a thriving veterinary practice and the vital role that the practice manager plays as a change agent. Lastly, we will identify the next steps that can be taken to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive veterinary practice.

Tracking the Trends: Roadmap Revelations from the Industry
Presenting Organizations: AVMA, AAVMC, AAVSB and NAVTA 
Knowing what’s ahead in our industry’s “journey” is the best way to avoid the bumps and roadblocks. Let our future-minded panel of industry experts be your travel guide. During this insightful 90-minute session, we will preview veterinary industry workforce trends, economic indicators, legislative and licensure activities and much more. Let the journey begin!

Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction
Speaker: Chris Bailey

CVPM Roundtable Discussions (CVPM members only)

Roundtable Discussions are among the most flexible and informal educational formats offered at VHMA education events. Roundtable Discussions allow for extended discussion among a small cohort of professional colleagues. Roundtable Discussions are excellent venues for giving and receiving targeted feedback and engaging in-depth discussions. Attendees are broken up into groups of 6-10 individuals and are presented with predetermined topics for time-limited discussions. 

TABLE 1: Share your career path with your colleagues; what is your most important career advice for newer managers?

TABLE 2: The COVID-19 pandemic changed the industry in many respects forever; how do you stay on top of trends (from practice corporatization to vendor consolidation to technology implementation and customer expectations) so you can ensure your business remains relevant? Managers of the future will need to be proactive, not reactive to the changing market.

TABLE 3: 2020 was an unusual year due to the pandemic; what financial assumptions are you making about the future as you manage your practice budget?

TABLE 4: Not much effort was needed to keep clients coming through the door in the last year, so marketing efforts were put on the backburner. How is your active and new client activity trending as we navigate into post-COVID operations? What are your predictions for the next year, and what are you doing now to be prepared.

TABLE 5: What compensation structure(s) does your practice use to pay your DVMs. Will you consider changing your models, given the current environment and applicant pool? Does your current compensation structure(s) fit your practice’s current needs? How does your existing compensation structure support your healthcare priorities, and does it allow you to adjust your pricing to allow your clients to make care decisions based on their financial needs?

TABLE 6: Due to workforce issues, managers will need to reimagine the practice’s staffing structure and how healthcare is delivered. What do you think the future healthcare team will look like? How will staff roles change from today’s practice model?

TABLE 7: There is significant industry focus on burnout and compassion fatigue among veterinarians and support staff, with little focus on practice managers’ wellbeing. Where do you seek support and what tools and resources have you found to help you, and how do you set boundaries to maintain your own wellbeing.

TABLE 8: Share one hack you learned from another industry that you have applied to your management best practices.

TABLE 1: Share your career path with your colleagues; what is your most important career advice for newer managers? Share your current career aspirations.

TABLE 2: What are your biggest changes today? Share what you’ve done to get a handle on things?

TABLE3: With an uncertain economy looming, what changes have you made to ensure your practice is prepared to weather any storm? What are your risk management priorities?

TABLE 4: How do you see role of the practice manager changing in the next five years? How can managers prepare themselves for the market’s needs and how can they advocate for their own needs?

TABLE 5: Practice models are changing to better serve the client’s needs and improve staff retention. Share one way your practice has changed your care delivery model. How did you decide to make this change and what are the outcomes of the change?

TABLE 6: What technology have you implemented in the last year that you wished you had sooner?

TABLE 7: Everyone is burned-out and exhausted from the constant changing work environment over the last few years, how have you ensured your sanity?

TABLE 8: Share one hack you learned from another industry that you have applied to your management best practices.

The Dirt on Grit
Speaker: Stacy Pederson
This leadership training is designed to help leaders develop "grit" in their employees. Some key components to grit may come as a huge surprise. Stacy shares tips and perspectives on what "grit" is, how you can model it as a leader, and ultimately create a company culture that helps foster it in your organization. What makes Stacy an expert? As her bio briefly describes, Stacy had lost everything at one point, become gravely ill, suffered from severe depression and PTSD, and never quit. She's walked the talk. AND, yes, there is humor. Leaders will walk away with a better perspective on what grit is, actionable steps to take for their own personal and professional lives, and a strategic plan for developing grit within their own organization.