Practice Tip 22 – Shared Decision Model…

The Share Decision Model and Veterinary Medicine…

I ran across this buzz word, the “Shared Decision Model”, the other day while having a coffee and reading a USA Today article. I laughed! The article was in reference to the human medical profession that is now having to discuss and handle objections (whoa!) to expensive treatment options with their patients!

It quoted a man who brought his Addisonian wife into the ER with stomach pain and his request for only a cortisone injection and not the $1000 (his co-pay) MRI to rule out other abdominal ailments. He was met with contempt by the attending physician, who huffed off yet finally “compromised” to the husbands request and gave the injection.

It’s not that the MRI is in any way shape or form a bad recommendation. On the contrary - it’s good medicine and we offer similar services as veterinarians on a daily basis. The “out-point” or incorrectness is the physician’s attitude on having to “stoop down” and discuss the case and share the decision. As veterinarians, I am proud to say, we do this every day in private practice, right?

Now, how well we do this can make a big difference in the standard of our medicine, our euthanasia rate, and importantly, our Average Client Transaction (ACT) and profit of our practice. We call this shared decision model and the area that goes along with it Client Compliance.

Fact: Clients have the right to know what the costs of their pet’s care. We have the obligation to the pet to offer what is optimal care. Some times what we recommend can exceed their financial qualifications and we have to down-shift and create a new treatment plan. But many times, the client is qualified but just has some concerns or fears (objections) about our plan. This is where our client compliance communication skills come into play.

So before you start dropping your standards of care or giving away free medicine, empower your clients with these simple steps:

1. Present what you feel is the optimum treatment plan before you create the estimate…
2. Create the estimate that fits the clients understanding and wishes…
3. Walk through each line item on the estimate, handling concerns, comments, and objections as they come up.

TIP: Do NOT drop your interest level when the client voices their views!

Sounds simple? It is. Try it out and watch what happens.

Interested in more information?

Attend the “SECRET TO BUILDING CLIENT COMPLIANCE” Free Webinar