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Editor's Note: This is the second in a two-part series about fee-setting. This month, Dr. Heinke provides insight into pricing professional services, capturing charges, collecting fees and a new financial [...]

To discount or not to discount--that is the question. But what is the answer? Your practice may have the highest prices around, but it discounts aren't logical and controlled, all [...]

Do you know your operating costs? Could you easily recite the percentage of gross income normals for drugs used or vended, for therapeutic diets, or for flea and heartworm preventives? [...]

In the past 10 years, the veterinary profession has worked hard to be proactive. In response to the KPMG study that found we were the poorest profession, the National Commission [...]

Blacksburg, Va. -- Scientists at Virginia Tech are taking a newly created nanoscale material and testing its drug delivery capabilities in horses. This collaborative project is being conducted with the [...]

We have all been in this uncomfortable situation. A client has just spent a good deal of money with you to take care of his or her companion's needs. Then [...]

From a financial aspect, what should you think about before accepting a position? Before considering salary offers or making a request, have you decided what your personal needs are? Younger [...]

Veterinary practice can be fun, or it can be stressful. The trick is to figure out how to minimize stress points so you can experience enjoyment the majority of the [...]

Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO). More than an acronym for computer data-input error, GIGO describes a plethora of practice management challenges every administrator faces. Welcome to abundant misinformation in the [...]

Long ago, before you even made application to veterinary school, you had a vision; you had a vision of what you wanted to accomplish once you had that license of [...]

Veterinary practice succession planning is a career-long endeavor, not a five-year plan. Your succession plan evolves from the entire history of the practice, its culture, its clients and patients and [...]

Veterinary practice succession is not a month-long or year-long event. Done correctly, succession is a career-long endeavor. Veterinary practice ownership is a continuum of acquisition, transition and disposition. This continuum [...]

Veterinary hospitals commonly use contract workers throughout the year. Spring and summer months especially bring opportunities for lawn services, maintenance and repairs and landscaping projects. During the course of the [...]

Promoting your practice through public continuing education events requires careful planning for a successful and well-attended outcome. Open houses and other public events can be a very satisfying way of [...]

Do you know whether your internal controls on practice computers and sensitive information are adequate? Do they reasonably prevent and detect fraud, ensure the integrity of data and prevent accidental [...]

Practice managers learn there's a lot more to business tax than the federal government. Each state or Commonwealth has its own complex regulations. And under a system of so-called voluntary [...]

As a veterinarian, you should be aware of a recently publicized case that was found in a taxpayer's favor. She was allowed her out-of-pocket costs incurred in caring for fostered [...]

By now, you have likely heard about Roth IRA regulation changes that might affect you. And you likely have questions about what you should do in response. To help, here's [...]

Opportunities for theft and embezzlement abound in veterinary practices. Every year, news articles draw attention to the huge losses that some practices experience and how they happened. The reality is, [...]

Today's veterinary practice owners wisely are devising short-term strategies for managing operational expenses such as payroll and supply costs. However, it's also important to think about long-term cost-cutting tactics. Why? [...]

Substantial theft and embezzlement do occur in veterinary practices regularly. Opportunities for both abound. Every 12 months or so, we read of a huge loss some practice incurred and how [...]

Current trends toward bigger veterinary practices--with more people using supplies, technology and equipment--and more part-time practitioners who don't have the concerns and pressures of ownership lead inevitably to decreasing profitability [...]

For an accurate diagnosis, veterinarians rely on an accepted set of quality controls. Was the animal correctly fasted? Was the right collection vial used? What about the quality of the [...]

Law, professional standards and personal principles, in addition to the diverse constituency the veterinary profession serves, are all driving tough ethical questions. With duties to families and employees, to client [...]

Lack of proper loan documentation is a recurring issue among corporation shareholders, as well as between related entities under common ownership. The IRS often reviews transfers from corporation to shareholder [...]

Although you would never knowingly hire thieves as employees, money pressures at home--especially in this economy-can result in your team members committing crimes against your practice. You can reduce cash [...]

The article offers information on how to determine fees for professional services. It indicates that a bottom-up approach that first targets the profit margin is essential for setting such fees. It suggests that a study found that a large potential for increased transaction volume per client exists through better goal-setting.

Discusses the benefits of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 when investing in surgical equipment in the U.S. List of potential fixed and variable costs of equipment purchasing and service pricing; Provisions of the law concerning bonus depreciation and deductions on the amount spent on equipment purchases; Advantages and disadvantages of leasing surgical equipment.

Focuses on the importance of nurturing and tracking existing clients that produce opportunities for better care and service in veterinary medicine. Theme of the veterinary practice management circuit; Tips on financial management in veterinary medicine; Management issues and recordkeeping deficiencies in the veterinary industry.

Veterinary practice succession planning, a career-long endeavor, is based in the philosophy, policies, procedures and protocols that sustain the practice's economic microcosm. This article continues the discussion of asset value and also of associated liabilities that reduce value. The component practice assets are a good starting point for understanding how the building blocks of a practice combine synergistically in providing a current income stream and long-term. Authors categorize veterinary practice assets into two primary types: tangible and intangible.

Presents tips for improving employee telephone response at veterinary hospitals. Advice on using dedicated line for client calls; Suggested manners in answering a phone call; Use of employee meetings in training employees.

The article offers information on the advantages of converting ones Roth individual retirement accounts (IRAs) as the regulation has been changed in the U.S. It states that the biggest change about Roth is that all taxpayers are eligible to convert their IRA to Roth. It mentions that tax code eliminates the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) and filing status requirements limiting Roth conversions starting in 2010.

Presents a list of veterinary practice code of ethics. Honesty and ethics in all words, deeds and actions by directors and employees; Assurance of the most progressive and scientifically sound medical and surgical procedures and humane patient care by upholding quality of veterinary care and ongoing education; Disciplinary action against those violating this code of ethics.