13 May 2020
Benchmarking tool crunches numbers to mark Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month and shows revenue growth potential in vet nurse consults.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Many practices are still not using VN consults to maximise practice revenue, with 71% of them provided to clients free, according to results from a benchmarking tool.
Veterinary Insights put its Vet Viewer benchmarking tool into action to calculate the value of VN consults and their impact on practice turnover.
It found 71% of nurse consults were being provided free, compared to 21% for vet consults. It also found VNs carry out 6.5% of all practice consults.
The Vet Viewer tool carried out the analysis to celebrate Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month (VNAM), and the results suggested many practices are still not making the most of nurses to generate revenue.
Its data said when practices were charging for nurse consults (excluding anal glands, nail clips and dressing changes), the average charge was £20.53 compared to £28.90 for an equivalent consult by a vet.
Routine services, such as emptying anal glands, were also charged at a lower average rate of £14.05 by a nurse compared to £15.91 for a vet – and vets carried out three times more of them than nurses.
Veterinary Insights said practices should be looking to review their business models and make more use of VN skills as they bounce back from the COVID-19 lockdown.
Managing director Alexander Arpino said: “There’s a real opportunity during VNAM not just to celebrate vet nurses, but to be really aware of what they are being allowed to do within the bounds of practice protocols, compared to what they are capable of doing.
“Practices can value the skills of veterinary nurses more and charge accordingly. By acting at a level commensurate with their skills, veterinary nurses are more likely to feel truly appreciated and motivated.
“It also means that, in turn, they can be rewarded for their financial contribution to practice profits.”
Vet Viewer is generating anonymous nationwide data to chart practice revenues both during and post-COVID-19.
For more information, visit the Vet Viewer website.
