Executive summary of the Bayer veterinary care usage study

Summary of FindingsLack of data on visits at the practice level —For purposes of the present study, a visit was defined as ex-amination or treatment of a dog or cat at a veterinary practice. This definition was consistent with how veter -inarians said they perceived a visit. Yet, it became clear during in-depth interviews with practice owners that many veterinarians did not routinely monitor number of patient visits. In fact, only 1 of the 34 veterinarians who were interviewed knew whether visit numbers were decreasing in their practices and by how much.Many veterinarians indicated that they recognized having many open appointments on their calendar and an overall decrease in revenues were likely signs of a decrease in visit numbers, but they had not specifically evaluated number of visits to their practices. Most veteri -narians interviewed were not taking any specific actions to increase visit numbers. Many indicated that there was minimal follow-up on annual appointment reminders to clients and that there were only modest efforts, if any, to attract new clients. Finally, participants indicated that they were more likely to monitor overall revenues and average transaction charges than visit numbers and that raising fees was typically their primary or only manage-ment tactic to improve overall revenues. In contrast, we believe that when client demand is decreasing, raising fees is likely to be counterproductive.