Vets and ProHeart 6: Is It About The Money? You Decide.
(Reprinted from "ProHeart 6: A Major Opportunity For Unsurpassed Growth," by Ronald E. Whitford, DVM)
In human medicine, do human patients comply with the recommended preventive health care recommendations? The reality is that even in human medicine most people do not seek veterinary care until they perceive either a need for that preventive care or are beginning to experience a problem. With that being the case, can we expect any more from our clients? The reality is that if we lose annual vaccinations, which has been the primary reason most clients return on a regular or semi-regular basis, unless there are significant changes in the mindset of the client, most practices will not survive. This is based on the fact that approximately 70% of all services provided in the typical small animal practice are related to preventive care. Only 25-30% of what is typically done relates to sick pets. So the question becomes, if we lose this annual vaccination "hook" to gain future visits, what else can we offer that might seem important enough to the client, or better yet change those annual visits to semi-annual visits? The answer is now apparent: ProHeart 6 as our primary heartworm preventive recommendation!
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ProHeart 6 provides the "hook" to gain biannual wellness visits. Semi-annual exams allow us to practice better medicine resulting in pets living longer, healthier lives. It also is a great business strategy because it provides more opportunities to detect problems earlier, educate and remind clients, as well as spread the cost of preventive care out over a year's period of time. The real profitability of ProHeart 6 is not in the actual profits derived from the injection, but rather from the additional marketing opportunities it provides.
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Human medicine does not depend on annual visits for appointments. Since the arrival of Viagra, Urologists' income has moved from and (sic) average of $75K annual doctor salary to $250K. People come for a product, but are tested to have their lives saved when doctor discovers prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Dentists have gone from $75K to $250K salaries with:
Our clients will not come for an annual exam. When the Rabies vaccination is needed every 3 years, we need a draw.ProHeart can be our Viagra. We can contribute to the pet's health at injection time by doing a thorough physical exam and charting the teeth, examining the rectum, etc. No physical exam is complete without a pelvic exam, fundic exam, etc.
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