Veterinary Practice Management: Planning

Veterinary Practice Management

• Manages clinical veterinary activity as a small business or enterprise.
• Includes planning, leading, managing, analyzing, organizing, executing, and evaluating aspects related to selling products and services.
• Covers all aspects of running a business.
• Management is essentially what a manager does.
• Management is achieving goals through others in organized groups and by creating an environment for individual/cooperative performance.

Management Functions

• Planning involves determining necessary activities and tasks to meet an objective (Stafford global), setting objectives, and outlining a course of action.

Types of Planning

• Strategic Planning: Analyzes competitive factors, determining how to compete, based on the organization's mission, with a long-term view (one to three years).
• Tactical Planning: Intermediate (one to three years) planning that develops specific means to execute the strategic plan.
• Operational Planning: Assumes existing goals and specifies how to achieve them with short-range (less than a year) action steps supporting strategic and tactical plans.
• Organizing: Integrates physical, financial, and human resources, develops productive relationships to achieve goals, structures the organization, allocates human resources, and designs individual jobs within the organization.
• Staffing: Focuses on manning and maintaining the organization, putting the right person in the right job, and includes Manpower Planning, Recruitment, Selection & Placement, Training & Development, Remuneration, Performance Appraisal, and Promotions & Transfer.
• Directing: Inspires action through social and informal influence, understanding subordinates' traits, and effective leadership to motivate effort towards organizational goals.
• Direction involves influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating, and includes supervision, motivation, leadership, and communication.
• Controlling: Ensures performance aligns with standards via setting standards, comparing performance, and taking corrective action.
• It aims to align subordinates' work with organizational goals through techniques like budget/performance audits.

Management of Practice in the 21st Century

• There is a focus on information technology, human resources, finance, marketing and sales, general office management, and health and safety.

Management Systems

• Structuring organizations and processes ensures systematic action, smooth processes, and planned results.
• Effective systems control optimized processes and improve the organization using clear guidelines.
• Management systems help adapt to change, avoid mistakes, identify opportunities/risks, and meet stakeholder needs.

Advantages of Management Systems

• They offer uniform structures, clear responsibilities, transparent procedures, continuous improvement, a resilient culture, improved satisfaction, cost reduction, goal achievement, legal certainty, and better market access.

Practice Managers

• They are managers of businesses like medical, dental, or legal practices.
• Australian Association of Practice Management says the manager performs Practice Management tasks in a healthcare setting.
• Titles include Chief Executive Officer, Business Manager, Executive Director, or Director
• The manager may not be the owner or the vet

Responsibilities of Managers

• The roles divided into general management, human resources, financial, health and safety, IT, and marketing.

General Management includes

• Daily office organization.
• Purchasing equipment and stationery.
• Managing equipment.
• Building repair.
• Banking.
• Overseeing client accounts.
• Overseeing debt control.
• Handling client complaints.
• Creating policies.
• Staff manual production.
• Internal communication.
• Rotas.
• Ethical administration.
• Building security.

Human Resource Management includes:

• Implementing employment legislation.
• Staff recruitment.
• Writing job descriptions.
• Contracts.
• Staff induction.
• Appraisals.
• Training and teamwork.
• Staff discipline and payroll.
• Holiday monitoring.

Financial Management includes:

• End of year accounts.
• Monthly financial reporting.
• Business planning.
• Financial trend analysis.
• Managing cash flow and insurance.
• Drug and stock control.
• Equipment purchase.
• Liaising with accountants.

Health And Safety Management includes:

• Health and safety legislation.
• Administering COSHH.
• Risk assessments.
• Fire regulations.
• First aid.
• Implementing safe procedures.
• Waste disposal.
• Staff training.

IT Management includes:

• Computer system organization.
• Knowledge of software.
• Troubleshooting.
• Software assessment.
• Website setup.
• Information management.
• Liaising with IT companies.
• Computer training.

Marketing, Services, and Sales Management includes:

• Developing marketing strategies.
• Target marketing.
• Overseeing new services.
• Promoting services.
• Managing client communication and surveys.
• Advertising policies, media, public relations, and sales strategies.

Qualities of a Practice Manager

• Confidence in their own abilities and thorough knowledge of the job.
• Assertiveness, the ability to be self-assured and handle confrontation.
• Responsibility and commitment to their role.
• High standards.
• They should be visible and motivating to staff.
• They should offer praise and thanks, provide constructive criticism, maintain fairness, use tact/diplomacy, communicate well, have a sense of humor, and self-awareness.
• Staff investments include salary, mandated benefits (SSS, Philhealth), uniforms, accommodation etc.

Qualities to Look for in Veterinary Staff

• Commitment
• Hard work
• Confidentiality
• Sales skills
• People Skills
• Computer Skills
• Teaching skills
• Expertise

The Staff Expects

• Security.
• Stimulation.
• Promotion.
• Good condition
• Challenges
• Responsibility

Recruitment

• It requires time, effort, and resources, and includes job description, skills profile, advertising, interviewing, candidate assessment.
• Job descriptions should provide a detailed, clear role and selection criteria. It should also tell people the nature of the job.

Advertising

Includes

• A practice logo
• A job title
• About the practice
• About the job
• And the contact details

Selection criteria during interviews:

• Should check personal profiles letters and CV's.
• Look for ambition and locality fits, and consider recommendations. The candidate should fit with the existing staff
• Group applications into interviewees, possibles and No's, and send a description with the offer.
• Interviews should be done by managing staff.

Interview Questions

• The interview questions should be designed to obtain information in the following areas:
• Work experience and technical/clinical abilities
• Teamwork
• Client care
• Computer skills
• Personality
• Practicalities
• The three rules are to be sure the right person is hired and to never select second place, and listen to your staff

Contract of Employment

• A legally binding agreement with employment terms can be written/verbal. All employees employed for longer than a month needs it, and the terms can't be arbitrarily changed
• The elements are offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity and legality.

What Is In The Contract?

Job details and benefits, if the employment is permanent or not, holiday, time off, rules, termination terms, confidentiality terms

Misconduct

• It includes attendance issues, safety breaches, refusal of instructions.

Discipline

• It is needed to maintain organizational standards, and the policies should be documented

Disciplinary Procedures

• An initial issue is a verbal warning, followed by Written warnings and Documentation. Final written if that fails

Dismissal

• The last step that can be taken. A serious action to take place if they do not abide by company rules

Managing Human Resources includes:

• Teamwork, communication, and managing change. A team requires skills and accountability. There needs to be constant clear lines of communications

To Have a Good Team You Need The Following:

• The leader, challenger, a doer, a thinker and a supporter.

What Improves a Teams Effectiveness:

• Is capability, cooperation, coordination, connection, cohesion, communication, . creativity, cognition, coachability, and continuous improvement. The leader of the team creates a motivation.

To Create a Motivational Environment You Need Staff That:

• Work better in an environment which motivates them are given enough time, have staff that can do their duties, know the company policy, they are supported

What Leads To Teams Failing

• Principally its the team members not knowing the task, poor communication or staff.

In the Work Place to Have Good Communications:

• You need consider all staff and communicate with all involved

Meetings

• They are a valuable means of achieving communications.

Departmentalized meeting structure includes:

• Staff meetings that have receptionists, nurses, and heads of department. They should be an hour long.

You Need the Following When Having Meetings:

• Action points of who will be in control
• The agenda
• And time

Two Types of Changes

• incremental and major. Managed proactively or reactively

There Will be Barriers that Can Effect Change That Are:

• poor attitudes, strategies and skill sets
• You need people who are able and are willing to change

An overview of veterinary practice management as a small business enterprise. Includes management functions like strategic, tactical, and operational planning to achieve organizational goals. Focus on creating an environment for individual and cooperative performance.