EQUINE | Business
But this raises a related question …
2. Am I just giving my best clients a discount?
That is the central debate, in my opinion. Are the clients
most likely to enroll in your wellness plans also the ones
who would pay full price for the recommended menu
items anyway? Possibly. That’s why it’s important to ana-
lyze which clients (A-, B- or C-level) are enrolling in and
using your plans. Are you giving away your upside?
Speaking of analysis …
3. How difficult are wellness plans to admin-
ister and assess?
Administration challenges can spook practice owners
and potential practice buyers alike. It’s been years since
wellness plans first arrived on the scene, and veterinary
software systems have come a long way in this area. Bill-
ing for different plans (gold, silver, bronze) with varied
renewal dates (monthly, annually) has become more ef-
ficient and reliable with each passing year.
But confusion can still arise when you’re assessing how
your wellness plan system is performing at a given time.
Is your practice financially ahead of the game or behind?
On a given day, do your wellness clients owe you money,
or do you owe them services? This can be a thorny issue
when you’re selling a practice with a large wellness com-
ponent. Is the buyer assuming a large liability to existing
wellness clients?
While we’re on the subject of thorny issues …
4. How does associate pay get calculated
with wellness plans?
vagaries of the wellness plan, how much the associate
produces versus what the client actually pays can vary
widely. How does the practice owner reconcile these
numbers in an equitable way? The answer to this will
determine just how desirable a workplace your practice
is for future associates—which can influence a potential
buyer’s interest.
Along those same lines …
5. Do wellness plans make your practice less
desirable to a potential buyer?
Opinions seem to differ on this question. As in real es-
tate, a home with a swimming pool can eliminate cer-
tain buyers from the market and seal the deal for others.
A wellness-plan-driven practice has the same potential.
On the one hand, a healthy, profitable practice should
have plenty of potential buyers to choose from. On the
other hand, a practice that uses this operational model
may, justified or not, frighten off some potential buyers,
including corporates.
Which leads us to our final question …
6. Is there a stigma attached to wellness
plans?
If there was one, it appears to be dissipating. In the end,
high-quality medicine, satisfied clients, a happy staff
and healthy profits ought to be the goals of every well-
balanced practice owner. Operationally, how he or she
gets there should be considered secondary.
Tom McFerson, CPA, ABV, is partner at the veterinary ac-
counting firm Gatto McFerson in Santa Monica, Califor-
nia.
This can be a big sticking point with employed veteri-
narians. For example, say an associate is paid 20 percent
of his or her production. Due to the potential monthly
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• Equine Health Update •