44 Today's Veterinary Business Community
While the veterinary profession
is not broken, it is in need of dis-
ruption. The practice of today looks
much as it did 50 years ago. Compare
that with the manufacturing and
farming environments of 50 years
ago. Both are virtually unrecogniz-
able from their not-too-distant pasts.
Health care delivery across the
board needs disruption, and the
veterinary space is no exception. The
easy position is one of path depen-
dency, in which we do the same
thing over and over again, expecting
different results. (Didn't Albert
Einstein have a name for that?)
The alternative is creative
disruption, a concept that exposes
flaws in a current business model,
highlights areas where improve-
ments or changes are needed, and
inspires adaptation of the business
model for future growth.
Let's not be path dependent.
Let's disrupt ourselves.
Let's get creative.
Let's inspire innovation.
Let's help more pets.
It's time to get creative
Too many pet owners are priced out of modern veterinary care.
Pricing Out Pet Owners
What are the two biggest challeng-
es to be solved by our profession?
Nowhere on my list are too many
veterinarians, competition from
nonprofit groups, industry con-
solidation or fighting online drug
sellers. The two biggest issues we
have to solve are:
• The high cost of
veterinary education
• The high cost of
veterinary care
Let's focus on the high cost of
veterinary care in this article. I'm
not saying veterinarians charge
too much or are overcompen-
sated. Far from it. However, the
numbers are pretty clear. Large
The veterinary industry is thriving. Spending is up, the pet family bond is growing, pet lifespans are
increasing, euthanasia is down, One Health is here, practice valuations have never been higher, we continue to at-
tract the best and brightest to our line of work, and we are consistently among the most admired professionals.
That said Kodak, Blockbuster, Borders, Sears, Yahoo and buggy-whip manufacturers all once cited similar rea-
sons for optimism.
Community
CREATIVE DISRUPTION
By Bob Lester, DVM
At what price
point can our
profession
put car(e)
in every
driveway?