15 Aug 2023
Figures from the Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS) show cases related to clinical fees rose by 27% in the year to October 2022, to 441 individual referrals.
Image: © nito / Adobe Stock
Veterinary mediators have revealed a rapidly growing trend of fee-based complaints and say practices should do more to ensure they communicate costs clearly to pet owners.
Figures from the Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS) show cases related to clinical fees rose by 27% in the year to October 2022, to 441 individual referrals.
The area also accounted for around one in eight (12%) of its cases over the same period, up from 9% in 2020-21.
Service head Jennie Jones said price-specific issues are still on the rise and are partly responsible for keeping overall complaint totals above pre-COVID levels.
But she argued that one of its current cases, relating to a consult fee increase the client claimed they were not informed of, showed where practices can be “exposed” by not discussing known factors at an earlier stage.
Mrs Jones said: “The overwhelming trend and theme in all of them is clear communication. There are very practical strategies that can be put in place for the things that are fixed fee.”
The service’s latest insight report warned that financial issues, together with changing pet ownership patterns arising from the pandemic, have “redefined client expectations”.
It also argued that continuing economic challenges make it “more crucial than ever” for the VCMS to work with both practices and clients to find ways of maintaining resilience within the sector.
The report said the growth of fee-related complaints was “likely to be linked to increased cost pressures on practices and cost sensitivities of clients flowing from the cost of living crisis”.
Its analysis has indicated a 92% year-on-year rise in complaints about estimates being exceeded, from 36 to 69, and a jump of more than 80% in concerns relating to prescription costs.
Meanwhile, complaints about errors in charging and invoicing rose by just less than 74%, from 46 to 80, while issues relating to insurance cover and claims were also up substantially – by at least 48% and 37%, respectively.
Another area of price-related concern for the service relates to the cost of diagnostics and ensuring clients more clearly understand the phasing of such work – particularly in more complex cases.
Mrs Jones acknowledged that advances in care would be unaffordable for many clients, but added: “That [diagnostics] becomes really difficult for the practice to handle after the event because they’ve incurred those costs.”
Overall, the VCMS received 3,605 referrals during 2021-22, 9% down on the previous year, but nearly 46% above the 2,474 recorded in the last full year before the pandemic, 2018-19.
Mrs Jones believes that trend, though not unique to the veterinary sector, is likely to be permanent and admitted she is concerned about its potential implications for frontline staff.
She said: “We have, I think, as a society, found our voice a little bit and we’ve also seen tolerances and thresholds change.
“Things that wouldn’t have been a complaint five years ago now are becoming a complaint.”
By far the most common subject of complaints referred to the VCMS remains the standard of veterinary care; although, the proportion of cases in the area dropped from 64% in 2020-21 to 59% last year.
Customer service issues accounted for more than one in five (21%) of all referrals; although, that level was also down from 23% in 2020-21.
The data further indicated a shift towards financial resolution of complaints, with 52% of mediated cases in 2021-22 being settled in that way.
But Mrs Jones stressed cases where clients paid fees that they had previously withheld were as common as those in which practices offered some form of refund or goodwill gesture.
A total of 936 practices were invited to enter into VCMS mediation in 2021-22, with 73% doing so – a 2% increase on the previous year.
Mrs Jones said there had been a significant improvement in engagement among practices since the service was launched in 2016-17 and resistance to it largely stemmed from issues within individual cases.
Clinical Assist