Providing care the way our clients want it- wellness plans, texting, and telehealth.

[Dr. Jess]

This week's fountain was full of references to changing the way we practice and communicate to meet our clients where they are! 

Karen Felsted's column "Trends in wellness plans", says "Even if you are one of the practices that isn’t experiencing a downturn in patient visits, the good times won’t last forever and now is an excellent time to focus on offering the services clients want in a way they want them. Wellness plans are an excellent way to do this."

Article 3.4 by Wendy Meyers writes, "Rather than leaving voicemails clients probably won’t listen to, veterinary practices should communicate through text". 
Article 3.5 is a discussion of a survey by Weave stating, "Twenty percent of respondents in the survey—which reached veterinary clients, medical patients and spa visitors—said they weren’t sent a reminder about their scheduled appointment and forgot or couldn’t attend."

What's the theme here? Our pet owners- especially our millennial and Gen Zs- see text messaging as a normal and expected way to communicate with businesses. They are also looking for changes in how they pay for and access care, looking for telehealth services and payment plans. 

What can you update in your practice to meet the needs of a changing pet owner population? 

[Kelly]

Dr. Jess,

Chiming in on the text messaging aspect that we see here from a marketing view.  Most people, regardless of age, really do not want a phone call. If they do not know the number it goes straight to VM as people do not pick up and answer anymore. Many hospitals are asking us about marketing via text messaging.  The average cell phone user checks their phone 63 times a day.  (https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/smartphone-addiction/)

 

Most veterinary hospitals do not use text messaging as a form of marketing to their pet owners. More people want technology to help with well being of their pet. Do you have any numbers for telehealth?

Kelly

 

 

[Tom]

This is a great point, Dr. Jess. I may not fall into the younger generations, but I have come to expect a certain level of technological advances and ease for most things I do today. If your pizza shop doesn't let me order online, I won't ever order it. If I can't make a tee time to golf online, forget it. Now, for my own healthcare, I have an app where my doctor can message me, I can see my test results, reorder prescriptions, make an appointment, and do anything I ever need to do quickly and easily from my phone. 

I understand that the veterinary industry might not have quite the same resources available to them, but for me, the technology I mentioned would be a major deciding factor for me when choosing who I take my pets to see regularly. 

I figured I would chime in with my customer viewpoint and to share my perspective. 

And I'm old 🙂 I can pretty much guarantee someone 20 years my younger isn't about to pick up the phone to make an appointment!

[Dr. Jess]

We don't have a ton of telehealth usage data, but the data that Kelly posted about phone pickups absolutely applies- our clients are, for the most part, used to getting the majority of their communication through texts and push notifications.  And I'm with Tom in that I will absolutely use ease of chat/text communication rather than phone as a deciding factor in who I do business with. 

Here's some more fun stats for you- 

Info from a 2021 Banfield study looking at telehealth use of 1000 clients over the previous year (2020) that shows there is definitely demand:

• 40% said they have used telehealth services for their pet at least once during the pandemic
• 44% said they have not used telehealth service for their pet but would be interested in using it if offered
• 88% said they’re likely to continue using telehealth services for their pet even if COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease next year
  
   

•  Customer Communications Review  looked at communication preferences of customers after they had established a relationship with a business. No surprises here: Those over the age of 56 rank phone calls as the top preferred communication channel(about 27% of pet owners). Age 40-55 (24% of pet owners) were fairly evenly split between all types of communication, whereas those under 40 wanted online chat as their main method.  (This is the biggest pet owning demographic- 49%!)
  
  
  All the studies out there show that our clients want this- it's just a matter of making the change in our practices! 

   

[Tom]

Great points Dr. Jess and those are some staggering statistics. 

It isn't always easy to promote change, and it can be especially difficult to accept it in a business model that has worked for so long like the veterinary industry. 

The return on these items will definitely show their value, it just needs to be accepted. After all, efficiency still plagues too many veterinarians, and these tools should be seen as ways to help in that area. The wonders of a well-implemented automation can go a long way to seeing more patients, increasing revenue, and reducing stress on an already stressed workforce.

[Kelly]

Jess,

To add what you are saying about chat, we are seeing an increase use of chat through Google My Business/Google Maps area. Clients are reaching out (if a practice has it turned on) and asking questions. Some are:

"Can I have a copy of my shot record for my dog?"

"I was wondering if you had may availability today for a second opinion for my dog?"

Also here is an example of a longer conversation.

We are having demands to use technology that is other than the phone. @Dr. Natalie Marks has an article about the use of the phone in the practice today. @Stacy Pursellare you seeing any positions posted for staff to work from home who can answer phones and chat messages off the practice website and Google Maps/Business area?

Kelly