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Jul 10
2010
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Random Thoughts On Random Thoughts Part OnePosted by Dean Scott in Untagged   |
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I received my monthly newsletter from our friends at AVMA PLIT with its prerequisite number of horror stories to prove why we need insurance. I always get the impression that the insurance companies are just contemporary Mafioso enforcers. They come to your business and say something along the lines of, “You got a nice place here. I’m sure you wouldn’t want anything to happen to it. It would be a tragedy. You know we could provide you some…..protection, if you know what I mean. There would, of course, be a nominal fee, but I’m sure you can see how reasonable we are.” A few things I get from reading the stories. One: someone doesn’t even really need to do anything wrong; it can just be the client’s alternate-reality version of events. Two: don’t do equine medicine; who would ever think such a large expensive animal can break like the most fragile crystal. “Whoa! Your technician looked too hard at my mare three years ago and now her (name any leg part) is broken!” Third: does anyone else notice that it’s the same doctors who are in trouble every month? What is up with these guys? Drs X, Y, and Z are constantly in trouble! They’re like the Three Stooges of the veterinary world. Seems to me if we can just get these three guys to stop messing up, perhaps our insurance rates would improve.
So, Mariah Carey isn’t able or doesn’t wish to pay her vet bills. What kind of message does this send to our average clients? I can already hear it. “See, how expensive veterinary medicine is? Poor Mariah can’t even afford it! That vet of hers just charges way too much!” Which, then, would lead to the next logical client conclusion: “If someone as well-off as Mariah doesn’t have to pay her vet bills, why should I?” This is just the latest entry in the long list of justifications as to why they cannot pay or go forward with diagnostics or treatment. One of my favorite entries on that list: “We can’t afford to do (treatment X) because we just got back from vacation in the Caribbean!” I don’t know what services and over what period of time would eventually amount to $30,000, but I’m certain that it wasn’t just a spay. Veterinary medicine continues to be an amazing deal, especially in comparison with other medical professions, for the money involved. While in veterinary school, my wife had to have her gall bladder out – no insurance at the time. Came to about $10,000. A veterinarian could have done the same procedure for $1,000 or less. And, though we had to make payments and had to deal with a less than sympathetic hospital bureaucracy, we still paid the total of the whole bill over time. I’m sure few people will get the point that Mariah’s veterinarian probably let things slide for quite awhile before being pushed into having to pursue the matter legally. At least with the vets I know or have worked with, it would take a lot for them to become confrontational about a client paying their bill. No one wants to be that paperboy from Better Off Dead shouting, “I want my two dollars!” And it’s weird, too, because every year we top the list of most respected and most honest of professions, but I don’t see that translate to real life. Respect could be represented by accepting our fees, accepting our advice, showing up on time for appointments, clients paying their bills, etc. Too many clients continue to respond as if we are used-car salesmen or auto mechanics that are trying to take advantage of them in some way. If Mariah doesn’t pay her vet, where does it end? Next thing you know, Angelina Jolie doesn’t pay her vet, Tim Robbins doesn’t pay his. It may even get so bad that Betty White and Bono don’t pay theirs! Then wholesale anarchy and economic collapse descends! So, Mariah, for the sake of the world, pay your vet!
PetMedExpress commercials are shortening my life-span. Between the insinuation that veterinarians are just ridiculously expensive to the fact that the mailman in some way is related to the whole PetMed happiness scenario with the dog greeting him so enthusiastically. It’s the mailman! He doesn’t work for PetMed! The dog isn’t greeting him because of the amazing convenience provided. What’s strange, too, is so many clients order the medications on the same day or the day after being at the vets. So, where’s the convenience? You were just there! You could have just had your meds filled right then! And, truly, have we become such lazy asses that it’s become impossible to drive a couple of miles to pick up medications? “Well, I’d have to get dressed. And tie my shoes. And then there’s the traffic. And what if I have to wait for them to actually fill it? It’s just so tiring.” The phrase so often repeated in their ads is how their medications are “a lot” less expensive. Not necessarily. More often than not there is less than a dollar’s difference. Nothing like supporting your local businesses. If you don't support your local vet, how do you expect them to stay in business? Don’t think you can call PetMed up should you have an emergency or need surgery or hospitalization. I’m amazed by how little clients will actually research to see if the medications they are ordering are less expensive on-line. Sometimes they’re not and we point that out to them. I had one client who still wanted to get the medication on-line, though we explained that it was more expensive, with the wonderful logic of, “Well, you can tell me anything, but that doesn’t make it true!” Really?! What would I benefit from lying? You can verify it for yourself! Here’s our cost and you can look up for yourself their cost. Oh, shoot, that’s right. That would require effort. I forgot. You’re still trying to tie your shoes.
So, Mariah Carey isn’t able or doesn’t wish to pay her vet bills. What kind of message does this send to our average clients? I can already hear it. “See, how expensive veterinary medicine is? Poor Mariah can’t even afford it! That vet of hers just charges way too much!” Which, then, would lead to the next logical client conclusion: “If someone as well-off as Mariah doesn’t have to pay her vet bills, why should I?” This is just the latest entry in the long list of justifications as to why they cannot pay or go forward with diagnostics or treatment. One of my favorite entries on that list: “We can’t afford to do (treatment X) because we just got back from vacation in the Caribbean!” I don’t know what services and over what period of time would eventually amount to $30,000, but I’m certain that it wasn’t just a spay. Veterinary medicine continues to be an amazing deal, especially in comparison with other medical professions, for the money involved. While in veterinary school, my wife had to have her gall bladder out – no insurance at the time. Came to about $10,000. A veterinarian could have done the same procedure for $1,000 or less. And, though we had to make payments and had to deal with a less than sympathetic hospital bureaucracy, we still paid the total of the whole bill over time. I’m sure few people will get the point that Mariah’s veterinarian probably let things slide for quite awhile before being pushed into having to pursue the matter legally. At least with the vets I know or have worked with, it would take a lot for them to become confrontational about a client paying their bill. No one wants to be that paperboy from Better Off Dead shouting, “I want my two dollars!” And it’s weird, too, because every year we top the list of most respected and most honest of professions, but I don’t see that translate to real life. Respect could be represented by accepting our fees, accepting our advice, showing up on time for appointments, clients paying their bills, etc. Too many clients continue to respond as if we are used-car salesmen or auto mechanics that are trying to take advantage of them in some way. If Mariah doesn’t pay her vet, where does it end? Next thing you know, Angelina Jolie doesn’t pay her vet, Tim Robbins doesn’t pay his. It may even get so bad that Betty White and Bono don’t pay theirs! Then wholesale anarchy and economic collapse descends! So, Mariah, for the sake of the world, pay your vet!
PetMedExpress commercials are shortening my life-span. Between the insinuation that veterinarians are just ridiculously expensive to the fact that the mailman in some way is related to the whole PetMed happiness scenario with the dog greeting him so enthusiastically. It’s the mailman! He doesn’t work for PetMed! The dog isn’t greeting him because of the amazing convenience provided. What’s strange, too, is so many clients order the medications on the same day or the day after being at the vets. So, where’s the convenience? You were just there! You could have just had your meds filled right then! And, truly, have we become such lazy asses that it’s become impossible to drive a couple of miles to pick up medications? “Well, I’d have to get dressed. And tie my shoes. And then there’s the traffic. And what if I have to wait for them to actually fill it? It’s just so tiring.” The phrase so often repeated in their ads is how their medications are “a lot” less expensive. Not necessarily. More often than not there is less than a dollar’s difference. Nothing like supporting your local businesses. If you don't support your local vet, how do you expect them to stay in business? Don’t think you can call PetMed up should you have an emergency or need surgery or hospitalization. I’m amazed by how little clients will actually research to see if the medications they are ordering are less expensive on-line. Sometimes they’re not and we point that out to them. I had one client who still wanted to get the medication on-line, though we explained that it was more expensive, with the wonderful logic of, “Well, you can tell me anything, but that doesn’t make it true!” Really?! What would I benefit from lying? You can verify it for yourself! Here’s our cost and you can look up for yourself their cost. Oh, shoot, that’s right. That would require effort. I forgot. You’re still trying to tie your shoes.
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