A data definition set for practices where individual veterinarians engage in 100% small animal practice and/or where the average large animal component is routinely less than 10% of the work that veterinarians in the team perform.
In Trimester 3 the focus is very much on measuring the performance of individual team members and, where opportunities are identified, implementing strategies to maximise their contribution to practice revenue.
Pro-rata Full-time Equivalents (PRFTE)
To permit accurate comparison with national benchmarks and to allow for typical variation in hours worked by employed vets we will normalise many parameters to pro-rata a full-time equivalent employee per year.
Pro -rata Full-time Equivalent Calculation
To do this; divide the typical hours a FTE would work in your business (assuming 38hrs per week and 4 weeks annual leave per year i.e. 48 x 38 = 1824 hours) by the actual hours worked by the individual. Then apply this ratio to the parameters you measure, e.g. the raw numbers for a part-timer would be adjusted up, someone doing comparatively long hours each week might be adjusted down.
Where possible, unless otherwise stated, please measure these parameters over the preceding 12-month calendar period. If the employee has not worked with you for an entire year, you will need to extrapolate what the resulting hours would be over a 48- week period based on their number of hours worked to date.
NB – If you are getting data from profit Diagnostix, please select the option for FTE calculation based on hours, not opportunities.
VET REVENUE BENCHMARKS
Accuracy for these benchmarks will be greatest if you aim to calculate your data over the last 12 months. For team members that have been with you for less than 12 months you may need to extrapolate from the period they have worked. Please see the data tips sheets for greater detail on how you might extract this data from your VBMS.
Any revenue being entered for this dataset must be exclusive of GST.
Average SA Transaction Fee per Vet ($)
Calculate the average SA transaction fee for each veterinarian in your practice over the last 12 months. If this individual does mostly surgery, please indicate this in your notes.
NB: Please present this dollar value exclusive of GST
Total Number SA transactions per PRFTE Vet
Total Number of SA transactions per PRFTE veterinarian in the practice per year. Exclude all zero-dollar value invoices. Please be sure these transactions are those that are only attributable to the vets i.e. if possible, exclude invoices produced by support staff.
Veterinary Fees Generated : Veterinary Salaries Ratio per Vet
The 5:1 rule applies to this statistic.
“Veterinary Fees” Please include veterinary specific services and veterinary medications provided in the course of veterinary work. Ideally exclude non-veterinary services e.g. grooming and unrelated merchandising and/or OTC unrelated to clinical service.
NB: Please present this dollar value exclusive of GST
“Veterinary Salaries” please include wages, bonuses, fringe benefits (e.g. car) and super. Include ‘true market rate’ adjustments for clinical work done by owner/s not already included in payroll: for this benchmark we use pro-rata $100,000 per 38hr week plus super.
For the most accurate result, calculate this fee for each individual vet over the last 12 months in your practice (or less for new employees)
Total SA Revenue Generated per PRFTE Vet/year
The average total SA revenue generated per year per PRFTE vet in your practice in the last 12 months. N.B. Please include any after-hours revenue if it exists. N.B. Please present this $ value exclusive of GST. Please be sure to include revenue that is only attributable to the vets i.e. if possible, exclude revenue produced by support staff.
NB: Please check your accuracy: SA Transaction fee multiplied by Number of SA transactions PRFTE should equal SA Revenue Generated/PRFTE.
VET SERVICE BENCHMARKS
Once again, accuracy for these benchmarks will be greatest if you calculate your data over the last 12 months. For team members that have been with you for less than 12 months, please extrapolate from the period they have worked. Please see the data tips sheets for greater detail on how you might extract this data from your VBMS.
SA Consults per PRFTE Vet/year.
Number of initial Small Animal consults (patient presents for new health issue) per PRFTE vet. If you record annual health examinations during vaccination as a consultation, please exclude these from your tally.
SA Revisit Consults per PRFTE Vet
Number of revisit consults per PRFTE vet. Please exclude any revisits not resulting from initial consults as well as post-surgical revisits.
Revisit Consults/Primary Consults as %.
Revisit Consults per PRFTE vet/year, divided by consults per PRFTE vet/year and expressed as a percentage.
SA Dentals per PRFTE Vet
Number of dental procedures per PRFTE vet/year in your practice, excluding in- consult dental examinations.
SA Dental Radiographs per PRFTE Vet
Number of patients radiographed for dental procedures, per PRFTE Vet/year.
NB: If you take multiple views per patient, e.g. four, this would still count as 1 patient radiographed. If Radiographs are performed as part of a package for dentistry, please use these numbers.
SA General Anaesthetics per PRFTE Vet.
Number of small animal general anaesthetics performed per PRFTE vet/year. Please include anaesthesia associated with de-sexing and dentistry.
SA Surgery Performed per PRFTE vet.
This parameter assesses how much small animal surgery an individual is performing and is normalised to pro rata a full-time equivalent vet to help permit more accurate comparison to benchmarks.
The purpose of this benchmark is to identify individual vets that could benefit from training and development to improve their confidence and efficiency in performing routine and non-routine surgical procedures.
The best way to calculate this is to use your VBMS to search for individual instances of surgery being performed by that team member in the period assessed. Of course in our interpretation allowances must be made for team members who don’t have equal access to surgery shifts when assessing this benchmark.
N.B: please be sure to include de-sexing in the tally for surgery.
SA Hospitalisation Charged per PRFTE Vet.
With this parameter we are looking at how much work in the hospital is attributed to caring for sick samll animal patients e.g. medical care, diagnostic work-ups. Once again, we are looking to see if there is opportunity to develop team members in medical case management.
Calculate the number of 24 hour periods of hospitalisation charged per PRFTE vet/year. For example, 48hrs of hospitalisation would be factored as 2, while hospitalisation just for the day would be 0.5.
Where possible, record only medical case admissions and exclude the day hospitalisations for surgical procedures. If accurate searching does not permit this, the total number of surgeries (with a factor of 0.5) could be removed from the total number of hospitalisations.
SA Radiographs per PRFTE Vet/year.
Number of small animal patients radiographed per PRFTE vet/year. Multiple views in a single examination should be counted as one; multiple separate radiographic examinations for the same patient should be counted as 1 on each occasion. Please exclude dental radiography.
SA In-house Cytology per PRFTE Vet.
Number of in-house cytological samples performed per PRFTE vet/year e.g. FNA, skin scrapes, ear smears
SA Blood Tests Run per PRFTE Vet.
Number of small animal blood tests run per PRFTE vet/year that includes more than 1 body function e.g. PABT, MBA/GHP. Exclude things like serial progesterone assays, serial blood glucose, serial PCV’s LDDST’s, ACTH stims, serology which all technically fall under the 1 body function banner.
VET SALES BENCHMARKS
If you are not already monitoring the following benchmarks, this data will need to be collected over the few months prior to the data submission date. Please see the tips sheet for more detail on how these can be produced using your VBMS.
URGENT ATTENTION: If you are not already monitoring the following benchmarks, this data will need to be collected looking forward ideally over the few months prior to the data submission date. Please see the tips sheet for more detail on how these can be produced using your VBMS. For that reason please note it is critical to start executing the collection of these figures as soon as possible.
Estimates Given Per Opportunities.
This benchmark serves several purposes. Firstly, it helps measure how often your vets are recommending procedures and assesses that relative to the actual number of opportunities to do so in a certain period. The more aligned with gold standard practice the vet is, the higher the number of procedure recommendations tends to be. This parameter is also important when assessing team members’ ability to convert these recommendations into sales (see below).
“Opportunities”
For the purpose of our benchmarking, we will deem “opportunities” to be the main occasions where vets might recommend a procedure to owners i.e. first consult, revisit consult, final vaccination, annual vaccination.
The number of opportunities will need to be calculated for each individual vet for the period being assessed. As opportunities vary dependant on the full-time or part time and regular shifts worked, this helps make an assessment of recommendations and conversions.
“Procedures”
We will deem “procedures” as any medical, surgical or diagnostic work that involves admission of the patient. We will exclude any procedures that are performed by the vet during a consultation as these should be captured in the other individual vet performance parameters.
“Estimates Given”
Ordinarily recommendation of a procedure will involve the provision of an estimate; either provided in writing or in the case of an immediate admission this may be, as a minimum, a verbal estimate that is referenced in the consent form and patient history.
If no specific reporting function exists in your VBMS to directly measure estimates given, a basic system to measure can be created; create a zero-cost invoice item titled “Estimate given” and ensure your vet team enter this whenever a procedure is recommended. This will serve as a marker you can search for to provide a measure of estimates given for each individual vet.
Conversion of Estimates (%)
This is an equally powerful parameter that assesses a veterinary team member’s ability to have the procedures they’ve recommend to owners actually booked-in and performed for the patient. In effect we are assessing the individuals ability to close the sale.
The way to calculate this percentage is by comparing the estimate a list of actual procedures performed (or booked to be performed) to the list of the estimates given for the period being assessed.
NOTE: While performing this measurement, you can simultaneously generate a list of Estimates Given but Not Converted. A highly beneficial exercise is to have this list generated regularly and provided to vets and/or support staff to follow up with phone calls to the clients.
SA Desexings Booked from Final Vaccinations Visit
There are direct and indirect benefits from maximising the number of young patients that go on to have their de-sexing procedure at your practice. An excellent system for maximising this is to pre-book these patients for their upcoming de-sexing at the time they visit the practice for their final vaccination. If you don’t already utilise this system, please ensure that your veterinary team are educated as to the why and how to achieve this and begin measuring their success in doing so. A simple calculation could be made by generating a list of all completed vaccinations and a list of all completed de-sexings, then comparing the two.
SUPPORT STAFF SALES BENCHMARKS
URGENT ATTENTION:As with the vet sales benchmarks, if you are not already monitoring the following benchmarks, this data will need to collected over the few months prior to the data submission date.
Please see the tips sheet for more detail on how these can be produced using your VBMS.
Phone Call Conversion to Consult (%).
Regular primary consultation bookings are one of the keys to having a successful veterinary business. One of the many key functions of support staff, in particular the reception team, is to field new phone enquiries regarding sick pets and book them for a consultation with a veterinarian.
Using a phone log, makes it possible to measure the ability of your support staff to convert enquiries to a booked appointment. This parameter can help identify if team members need additional training or scripting to assist them with making consultation bookings.
You are welcome to use the Phone Log template provided to you by Lincoln for this.
De-sexing Enquiry Conversions (%)
While de-sexing procedures aren’t generally the most profitable procedure in veterinary practice they are an excellent opportunity to bond with a client and often lead to additional services being provided. De-sexing enquiries can prove a greater challenge to convert to a booking as there is less urgency, competition is generally tight and as a result this service is routinely price-shopped.
Measuring de-sexing enquiry conversions can give a strong indication of a support staff member’s ability to sell procedures generally and also whether additional training and scripting around de-sexing would be beneficial. Using your phone log is the key to measuring this KPI. Please refer to the Phone Log template provided by Lincoln.
Counter Sales Per Hour Reception ($)
This parameter is a measure of support staff members’ ability to sell products and merchandise while working on reception. As practices might have dedicated receptionists and/or nurses who rotate through reception, the best way to normalise this parameter is to divide the total counter sales (in dollars) by the hours worked at reception for the period assessed.
Once again, measuring counter sales can give a strong indication of a support staff members ability to sell generally and whether additional training +/- scripting around product and food sales would be beneficial.