Not sure where to put this, but just food for thought.
I went to the e-clinic this week for the first time in over a year (thank god). I noticed signs about the name change "we are now" etc. Didn't think much of it until I just started trying to find where the Orthopedic vet surgeons are in this area.
Anyway, since the e-clinic had specialists attached I expected to end up there. What I noticed what it says is that the practice had been acquired by a group that owns about 5-6 other hospitals in the NE.
Now, people don't do this so they can provide the best medical care. They do this (usually with borrowed money) so that they can maximize the return on their investment. This is very worrisome to me.
IOW before the clinic was a service that worked with local vets to take your pet overnight in addition to being open when your vet closed (i.e., 5 pm to 8 am and weekends/holidays.) Now it's open 24-7, so essentially will be competing with them.
Now we've all heard about the "business" of medicine, but say what you want, your local vet is trying to earn a living and not calculating his return on investment. There's no a way this cannot impact the culture of the clinic. Now they don't have a practice manager they have a "chief strategy officer". Look at the guys linked in write up:
"Senior leader in developing strategy and new business opportunities, identifying and negotiating merger and acquisition opportunities, overseeing development of products and services, leading strategic planning and guiding all marketing activities."
Anything about superior medical care in there for animals - NO!.
The tail is going to start wagging the proverbial dog, the 1st consideration will be holding the staff accountable for metrics and monetizing every service they can. It won't be the pets health. That's not the priority of the people running the place. I bet the pro-bono services will be out the window as well. I wonder how long it'll be before they stop giving reduced fees if you direct transfer your pet there.
Anyway, I'm going to look and see if there are other emergency clinics.
I went to the e-clinic this week for the first time in over a year (thank god). I noticed signs about the name change "we are now" etc. Didn't think much of it until I just started trying to find where the Orthopedic vet surgeons are in this area.
Anyway, since the e-clinic had specialists attached I expected to end up there. What I noticed what it says is that the practice had been acquired by a group that owns about 5-6 other hospitals in the NE.
Now, people don't do this so they can provide the best medical care. They do this (usually with borrowed money) so that they can maximize the return on their investment. This is very worrisome to me.
IOW before the clinic was a service that worked with local vets to take your pet overnight in addition to being open when your vet closed (i.e., 5 pm to 8 am and weekends/holidays.) Now it's open 24-7, so essentially will be competing with them.
Now we've all heard about the "business" of medicine, but say what you want, your local vet is trying to earn a living and not calculating his return on investment. There's no a way this cannot impact the culture of the clinic. Now they don't have a practice manager they have a "chief strategy officer". Look at the guys linked in write up:
"Senior leader in developing strategy and new business opportunities, identifying and negotiating merger and acquisition opportunities, overseeing development of products and services, leading strategic planning and guiding all marketing activities."
Anything about superior medical care in there for animals - NO!.
The tail is going to start wagging the proverbial dog, the 1st consideration will be holding the staff accountable for metrics and monetizing every service they can. It won't be the pets health. That's not the priority of the people running the place. I bet the pro-bono services will be out the window as well. I wonder how long it'll be before they stop giving reduced fees if you direct transfer your pet there.
Anyway, I'm going to look and see if there are other emergency clinics.
