Today's Veterinary Business

AUG-SEP 2017

Today’s Veterinary Business provides information and resources designed to help veterinarians and office management improve the financial performance of their practices, allowing them to increase the level of patient care and client service.

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5 August/September 2017 • TODAYSVETERINARYBUSINESS.COM DID YOU KNOW? Start a conversation with a Today's Veterinary Business editorial adviser and you may hear this: • Dr. Zack Mills was Clemson University's tiger mascot for two years. Because of his mis- chievous behavior, he said, "rules had to be written to keep mascots off the playing field." • A run-in with a patient convinced Dr. Mary Beth Leininger that avian medicine wasn't for her. "My first injury was from a duck that beaked my nose bloody and broke my glasses when I was examining a wound he received from the neighbor's dog," she recalled. • Fritz Wood's sister financial planning firm, Triune Financial Partners, manages more than $500 million in assets, including more than 70 401(k) plans. • Dr. Jeff Thoren is an avid cyclist and has completed several 100-mile rides. He considers himself "an organizational rebel and corporate bullshit detector." • Mark Cushing, founding partner of the Animal Policy Group, grew up in an Oregon farm town. "I went away to Stanford. When I returned, my little hamlet in the Willamette Valley and Dundee Hills had turned into the world's next great pinot noir wine region," he said. "Apparently, all it took was for me to get the hell out of the state while smart winemakers got to work." • Kelly Baltzell isn't a veterinarian, but she knows a fair amount about invertebrate ani- mals. "I have had the same worm farm colony for the last 10 years," she said. • Dr. Ernie Ward stays physically active. "I've been a certified personal trainer, a USA Triath- lon-accredited coach and a multiple Ironman finisher," he said. "When I'm not on the trails or in the gym, you can find me in the ocean surfing with my family." • Dr. Eleanor Green owned a Mississippi veterinary hospital before she moved into academia at Mississippi State University and Texas A&M; University. • As a New Jersey 10-year-old, Dr. Charlotte Lacroix saw a goat advertised for sale in New York. Her parents said, "If you can figure out how to get it, you can have it." She found a way to pay for the goat and transport it home. • Dr. Amanda Donnelly loves football. She roots for the University of Missouri, the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots. from Eleanor M. Green, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, the Carl B. King dean at the Texas A&M; Univer- sity College of Veterinary Med- icine and Biomedical Sciences, to industry veteran and current practice owner Zack Mills, DVM. Dr. Mills went from buying a practice in 1985 — a year after earning his DVM at the University of Georgia — to taking jobs with Merial Ltd. and Hill's Pet Nutrition to returning to practice in 2012, when he opened Tiger Tails Ani- mal Hospital in Duluth, Georgia. He believes that privately owned hospitals like his will remain in the majority for a long time. "The owners of these practices must become more astute business people," Dr. Mills said. "We also have to look to provide ways to bring associates into the practice as part- ners and owners. Today's Veterinary Business can be a resource for ideas, information and education to that end." Real-Life Advisers Six board members spend their work hours as professional ad- visers. Drs. Donnelly, Ward and Thoren own consulting firms, as do H.R. Huddle columnist Charlotte Lacroix, DVM, JD; Politics & Policy columnist Mark Cushing, JD; and Fritz Wood, CPA, CFP. Wood, who also is closely as- sociated with a financial planning firm, said financial security isn't an impossible goal for veterinary professionals. "Veterinarians and the people who work in their practices need and deserve to do better finan- cially," Wood said. "Since a prac- tice's financial health ultimately impacts pet health, everyone benefits from healthy practices." Board member Kelly Baltzell, " It is rewarding to see light bulbs go off in people's heads as they finally get how marketing can be a rewarding experience for their business." – Kelly Baltzell, president and CEO of Beyond Indigo MA, the president and CEO of Beyond Indigo, said she loves "assisting veterinarians and their teams in understanding the fluid, rapid-changing environment of online marketing." "It is rewarding to see light bulbs go off in people's heads as they finally get how marketing can be a rewarding experience for their business," she said. Dr. Leininger spent three decades as a Michigan practice owner, served as president of the American Veterinary Medical Association and this year retired from an executive role at The Hartville Pet Insurance Group. Networking and savviness can help veterinarians succeed, she said. "In my decades of involve- ment with veterinary organi- zations of all sizes and focuses, it is my network that has been responsible for any personal or professional success I've been blessed with," Dr. Leininger said. "And the ability to be savvy about business strategy and man- agement decisions is crucial in today's challenging and competi- tive practice environment." Dr. Ernie Ward Fritz Wood

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