A Veterinary Team Members Guide to Financial Conversations with Pet Owners

Course overview

In the rapidly changing economy and landscape of veterinary care, cost of care is a growing and critical discussion. While veterinary clients are struggling to afford the rising costs of care, patients may receive less care or sometimes no care at all. Veterinary team members are often stuck in the middle of providing care for a client within the limitations of pet families. The emotional, mental, and moral distress that veterinary teams are facing due to the growing client limitations highlight the need for a new approach to veterinary care. A wide variety of financial tools exist that can assist owners in affording veterinary care for their beloved pets. These tools include pet insurance, credit based financing solutions, payment plans, grant options, and more. The tricky part is knowing how they can all work together in your practice to create the best outcomes for the patients and their owners. Paraprofessionals often shoulder the majority of the burden when it comes to financial conversations, though they receive limited education on the topic. With proper understanding of the financial tools that exist within the veterinary profession, veterinary teams can turn some of these very emotionally charged conversations into a supportive partnership that improves the culture within the hospital, client retention, and patient outcomes. This lecture will explore available financial tools in the veterinary industry and empower veterinary team members to discuss these options with clients. Understanding these tools and how to most appropriately use them can improve team culture and wellbeing by minimizing situations of moral distress and lead to healthier veterinary-client-patient relationships.