By Alan E. Green

I am hopeful that many of you have been enjoying the contributions that the doctors at CVRC have provided during the last year. We take extreme pride in the knowledge, abilities and enthusiasm for teaching that our staff possesses.

Part of the mission of CVRC included not only excellence in patient care but a dedication to education. Another part of our mission was an intense focus on client (you, the pet owner) communication and service. The way you feel during a visit to the veterinarian, or your own physician for that matter, is extremely important, and unfortunately both in veterinary and human medicine, frequently overlooked.

When discussing the experience in a veterinary practice, or human facility, it is important to recognize that these are service businesses. That’s correct; medicine is a service. As in any service business, there are multiple components. I read a great book several years ago, which allowed me to put into my annual holiday pep talk to the staff, the concept that I had always followed. The book was Setting the Table by Danny Meyers. Although a book written for the hospitality industry, its concepts were perfectly applicable to the veterinary and medical professions. [Editor’s Note: It is also a book and author our Peg Moore has referenced often.]

Mr. Meyers talks about the concepts of service, which is what we do, and hospitality, which is how we make you feel. Yes, even doctors, technicians, receptionists, nurses, etc. must understand that there is much more to what we do, than practicing medicine. I always mentioned to my staff that the minute you think it’s all about the medicine, and nothing else, you’ve missed the point.

Recently, I had the experience of visiting the Cleveland Clinic. This is a hospital that employs 50,000 people! Although no one likes to “visit” hospitals, I think if you own one, or manage one, you look at the experience from a different point of view. I was amazed at the focus on hospitality, in spite of the enormity of the facility. The staff was obviously trained and focused on communication and hospitality. From the minute I walked into the building actually, from the minute I arrived at the door the feeling I got was one of concern and helpfulness.

I had a client in New York who was bringing his dog to a veterinary hospital with a less than stellar reputation. I knew the veterinarian, and I had been in the hospital several times. It was not clean, and the doctor was not warm and fuzzy. When he moved to our area, and started using our hospital, I asked him why did he continue to frequent a place that didn’t make him feel good. His response was that he thought that’s just the way “animal hospitals” and veterinarians are. That was what his expectations were.

I feel strongly about the fact that whether it is your veterinarian, or your family doctor, you need to have certain expectations that you should take very seriously. Your doctor needs to listen to you. So much of what we get right or wrong in medicine can be narrowed down to the medical history. If there is no focus on what you are saying, there is a good chance that an important aspect of the problem will be missed. In addition, I frequently tell people to trust their instincts. Is this a caring person I’m talking to? Is he/she really interested? When you are being spoken to is that person a good communicator, or are they talking over your head. The use of medical jargon to a non-medical person just shows an inability of the doctor to connect and communicate effectively. Do not be afraid or intimidated and make sure you understand completely whatever the conversation is.

The good news for pet owners is that there is no shortage of excellent and caring veterinarians. We tend to be a dedicated and compassionate group of professionals. During the last two decades, the practice of veterinary medicine has become extraordinarily sophisticated. The ability to diagnose and treat a variety of ailments with technologies and medications that parallel our human counterparts has improved the quality of lives for millions of pets. As we become more and more advanced and as we depend more and more on technology, it becomes that much more essential for us to focus on communication, compassion and “hospitality.”