Pulse - September 2021 - 14

PRACTICE MANAGERS
LOOK TO PEER
GROUPS FOR ADVICE
AND SUPPORT
Practice managers are in a unique
- some describe it as lonely -
position in a veterinary practice.
Nearly all the people they contact
in the course of a workday report
" I'm looking forward to being " the thinker not the doer "
again, as she was before the pandemic, Leslie said. I was " the
idea person with the owner. We've just been in survival mode. "
She normally does hiring and firing, recruiting and payroll
and managing employees, she said. " We have a very good
leadership team, which we've developed since I came here.
We have department supervisors but also leaders within
departments - go-to people we can rely on.
" Most practices are like firefighters, " she said. " There are
events that happen that need to be problem-solved. And most
practice managers are good problem solvers. They can figure
out how to keep things working. "
Andrea Crabtree, owner of FurPaws Consulting and a former
practice manager, said that Human resources is the No. 1
pain point in veterinary practices.
" A lot of it is how are we dealing with our teams? What are
we doing to maximize team efficiency? Are they burned out?
How is our employee retention? How are we making sure that
our team is engaged? Are our wages fair? What are we doing
to maximize revenue so we can maximize wages for our team?
" There are a lot of different aspects of this and that's especially
true for managers, who have so many things coming
at them. It's trying to remember this aspect of HR and don't
forget that aspect of the veterinary process and don't forget
this, too. It's juggling all these balls and making sure we don't
drop anything. It's like drinking from a fire hose.
" Compliance [with laws and regulations] can be so overwhelming
in the state of California. We have Veterinary Medical
Board requirements, we have CalOSHA requirements
and a ton of state laws that are constantly changing.
" HR employer requirements for file retention,
payroll
record retention and compliance with HR specific laws
change so often, they're a moving target. It's very, very difficult
to stay up with something as simple as maintaining
employee files. Most veterinary practices do not understand
the importance of this. Fees associated with noncompliance
and violations are astronomical. I have done lots of payroll
audits and 100 percent of them have errors. Sometimes it's
small and sometimes it's big. But either way, even the smallest
of payroll errors can lead to large fines.
" Practice owners don't realize it because they're paying a big
payroll company to take care of their payroll and they think that
ensures they'll be correct. You open yourself up to huge risk with
this. And that is just one example of what can happen. " P
14
to them. There is nobody they can
- or should - confide in or turn to
for advice in a hospital except the
owner or a superior.
Where can they turn? Their contemporaries
in other practices, who have
the same problems they do, are available
through networks and groups at the local
and national levels.
Jessica Speas, administrator of Crescenta-Canada
Pet Hospital, said she thinks
veterinarians
" are lucky because they
come out of school with classmates and
colleagues they can reach out to. Practice
managers often don't have that. So they
have to put extra attention into building
their networks. It takes effort.
" But knowing people who will be there
for you, regardless of where they are, so you
can call or text them when you need them
is really important. I have people all over
the country I can call. One of my dearest
friends is in Florida, where she manages
four hospitals. I talk to her daily. "
Andrea Crabtree, owner of FurPaws Consulting,
said that Southern California is fortunate
" because we have an amazing group
of managers who are extremely close friends.
We call each other our tribe. and our tribe
grows on a regular basis. We're very fortunate
that we have that support system where
other places do not. "
Said
Elaine Myers,
administrator
Orange County Emergency Pet Clinics:
" The group of managers [in Orange
County] - I don't think I could have
done this job without them. It was a huge
learning curve for me when I started. My
degree is not in business. I just jumped in
as a manager. I knew how our practice ran
but I didn't know how business was run
and I didn't know human resources law.
SEPTEMBER 2021
PULSE
of
Pulse - September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pulse - September 2021
