In the current veterinary landscape, two things are true for practices:
- With increased demand for veterinary care due to COVID-19, practice teams are having to work overtime and are struggling with work-life balance.
- With more first-time pet owners than ever before, the after-hours helpline PetNurse can add real value and Return on Investment (ROI) for practices without the cost of hiring additional staff or extending hours.
To illustrate, here is a hypothetical financial analysis of PetNurse ROI based on real call data from a PetNurse Monthly Call Report and reasonable real-world parameters:
Over one month, the PetNurse team of live Registered Veterinary Nurses takes 31 after-hours calls on behalf of XYZ Veterinary Practice. While most calls involve urgent pet health situations and are referred to an after-hours emergency animal hospital associated with the practice, six calls are non-urgent and result in practice appointments. At an average individual appointment value of $195, the following ROI can be applied for XYZ Veterinary Practice:
- Monthly PetNurse cost for 1 veterinarian – $299
- Income from six appointments: $1,170
- Total return on PetNurse investment: $871
The above shows how a handful of non-urgent triage outcomes can cover monthly cost of PetNurse to practices while driving revenue. More importantly, the above ROI can be called conservative, since it does not account for any additional revenue from follow-up appointments, procedures, and/or treatments, or the lifetime customer value of any new clients using PetNurse.
The above also does not account for numerous intangible benefits for both practices and clients, which in many cases translate to real dollar value:
Benefits for Clients
- Increased access to veterinary care and recommendations, which improves client satisfaction and overall patient health
- 24/7 peace of mind for clients by knowing there’s always a Registered Veterinary Nurse they can call to evaluate the severity of a pet health situation, determine urgency, and specify clear next steps
- Reduced costs, stress, and inconvenience for clients and their pets by eliminating unnecessary trips to an emergency animal hospital
- Improved patient outcomes and continuity of care when more is being handled by a client’s veterinarian versus an emergency hospital, which may not have access to a pet’s medical records
Benefits for Practices
- Increased revenue for practices by having non-urgent health issues diverted back to the practice instead of losing appointments and procedures to 24/7 emergency hospitals
- Improved flexibility to reduce regular hours while maintaining quality of care by having triage support available to clients after hours
- Case notes and reporting, which provides practices with full visibility into after-hours pet health concerns and information about which clients are seeking after-hours care with other providers
- Better access to care for clients and patients puts your practice front and center as the trusted source for pet care, even when your practice is closed
What additional features set PetNurse apart from competing telehealth systems?
For practices with on-call staff, PetNurse reduces call volumes and improves work-life balance by handling all non-urgent and administrative after-hours calls.
To learn more about PetNurse, book your free PetNurse consultation today.
