Partners for Healthy Pets Update: Increasing Your Employment Prospects

Part 3: Presenting Preventive Healthcare Recommendations to Maximize Client Acceptance

As stated in Part  2 of this “Increasing Your Employment Prospects” series, there is a lot of competition for the best jobs, especially if you are limited in geographic locations.

Employers are looking for good clinical skills along with good communications and interpersonal skills. With the quality of education in veterinary colleges today, most of the 1,500 new entrants to the market have these skills. Given that, what else can you bring to a practice that will differentiate yourself from other applicants?

This article, from the Partners for Healthy Pets, is the last in a three part series aimed at introducing you to the tools and resources available at www.partnersforhealthypets.org that you can use to increase your marketable skills and increase your odds of landing that perfect job. All the tools are available at no cost. The tools we will review in this article relate to helping the entire practice team present preventive healthcare recommendations to pet owners in a way that they are most likely to be accepted.

Why Recommendations, and How they are Presented, Matter

There are a number of interesting studies around how physicians talk to their patients about quitting smoking. Basically, if a physician says, “You know, you should stop smoking,” in most cases the patient (who already knows she “should” stop smoking) either becomes defensive or wants to avoid what she knows is a difficult topic. She typically reacts by saying something like, “I know; I’ve been cutting back a lot.” The physician, who also may want to avoid the topic, says, “Good. Keep it up.” The result: nothing changes!

On the other hand, if the physician says, “I’m concerned about the impact that your smoking has on your health. Is that something we can talk about?” Presented in this fashion, the majority of patients will agree that it is a subject that can be discussed. The physician can then ask the appropriate follow up questions, such as, “Have you ever tried to quit?” That can be the start of a productive conversation that can lead to change.

Not surprisingly, the words used and the manner in which recommendations are presented can have a strong impact on communications between veterinarians and pet owners. Think about being across the exam table from a client with an obese pet. Can you imagine the impact of saying, “I’m concerned about Fluffy’s weight and the impact on his health. Is that something we can talk about?” The results would probably be different than if you had said, “You know, Fluffy’s seriously overweight; we need to get him on a diet.”

Communicating the “Why” is More Important than the “What”

In a widely publicized study (Bayer-Brakke, 2011), 34% of pet owners indicated that they did not think their pet was more likely to get sick if they did not get an annual checkup. More important, 46% indicated that they did not think that checkups were necessary. As a profession, we have not done a good job in communicating the value of an annual checkup.

Think about doing an exam on a dog. After you have listened to the heart (and finding the heart sounds to be normal) you might say, “His heart sounds fine.” So you have clearly told the client what you have done, and the client may feel reassured. But what if you then added, “Dogs don’t have ‘heart attacks’ like we do, but they do frequently develop heart disease as they age. The reason we listen to the heart every year when you bring him in for a checkup is that by detecting problems early, we can often take steps to delay or even prevent the onset of serious problems.” Now you have helped the client understand why the annual checkup is important and you have underscored the value of bring the pet in at least once a year.

Words That Work Videos & Scripts

The Partners for Healthy Pets website (www.partnersforhealthypets.org) has an entire section on effective communication tools. The Words That Work video series takes a detailed look at how to have successful preventive healthcare conversations with clients. Individual videos cover specific topics, including history taking and relationship building, conveying value during a physical exam, and dental, heartworm and nutrition discussions.

Each video also includes supporting scripts that can be downloaded and printed, providing you with a list of communication techniques that can be applied in everyday practice. By studying the videos and the scripts, you can provide your prospective employer with a very important skill. You can offer to share your knowledge with the practice team.

Studies done by AAHA and others have clearly demonstrated that merely “telling” pet owners that they should do something related to prevention is not sufficient for them to take action and accept the recommendation. However, effectively presenting a recommendation can and does lead to higher client acceptance and compliance. There is a huge patient health benefit when recommendations for preventive healthcare are accepted and the practice also gains a financial benefit – both are benefits that you can bring to a practice.

Summary

The Partners for Healthy Pets website (www.partnersforhealthypets.org) offers an entire suite of tools useful to virtually all practices. In this series we have highlighted just three sections of the toolbox. We encourage you to use the tools to gain skills that you can increase your marketability, land that perfect position, and embark on a rewarding career in veterinary medicine. Best of luck to you!