Purdue News
Purdue News
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February 10, 2004 Consulting team does veterinary clinic 'makeover'WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A team from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and Purdue University has set out to make over a veterinary clinic from the inside out. More than just a cosmetic makeover, the team is addressing the clinic's business and management practices in addition to sprucing up the building and staff.
Three of the four members of the AAHA team are graduates of Purdue's Krannert School of Management's Executive Education Program, which has, for a number of years, run the Veterinary Management Institute (VMI) with AAHA on the West Lafayette campus. The goal of the Veterinary Management Institute is to provide veterinarians with the necessary business skills to succeed in a changing veterinary market. Mike Sheahan, director of Krannert's non-degree executive programs and a member of the makeover team, says the Veterinary Management Institute is designed to fulfill a need for veterinarians whose formal education is almost exclusively based in animal science and treatment, leaving small business-owner veterinarians to figure out the business model on their own. "Veterinarians who lack a broad-based understanding of business will find the economic viability of their practices dramatically compromised," Sheahan said. "We offer 72 hours of instruction in what amounts to a specialized mini-MBA for veterinarians that covers all the functional areas of running a business – finance, accounting, human resources, business strategy, marketing and leadership." The AAHA team, in its clinic makeover of McAfee Animal Hospital in Valparaiso, Ind., stressed the same functional areas that the VMI offers yearly in cooperation with AAHA. Larry McAfee, a Purdue alumnus, is co-owner of McAfee Animal Hospital, which was the test case for AAHA's makeover effort. The makeover team started by spending three days observing the clinic and its five veterinarians and other employees in action. The team is making a total of four visits to the clinic in January and February. McAfee said, "While we have one of the busiest and highest gross profit margin veterinary practices in the state, you could describe our practice from a management point of view as muddling through." Sheahan said, "We realized pretty quickly that we also were being encouraged to go deeper than a decorative makeover. This is a 1970s-style clinic that's slated for replacement. But there were also business issues for which we could provide management insight." In examining the clinic and its business practices, the team looked at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – known as a SWOT approach. Linda Lehman-Murphy, AAHA learning and development director, said, "When we complete the makeover, it will affect the physical areas as well as the staff. But what makes it truly marvelous is the makeover of the practice's business tools, including its mission, vision and values, workflow, and branding in the community." Sheahan said the team zeroed in on the plans for a new facility, which was to be built in another part of the town. "However, we realized that the current location was excellent in terms of demographics, accessibility and having an established place with which the clinic's customers were familiar," he said. McAfee is now considering rebuilding at the current location. During the first visit, the consulting team interviewed the staff both individually and in groups to get their ideas on how to make the clinic more successful. Some of the staff's ideas: developing a consistent color scheme, logo and uniforms for employees, and adding stools for doctors in the exam rooms. In addition to generally cleaning up and decluttering the clinic, the team recommended creating a comfort room for pet owners whose animals are being euthanized and making separate entrances to the clinic for dogs and cats. "The unifying element here in business terms is designing a total environment that leads to the kind of customer experience that leads to repeat business," Sheahan said. "We'll keep on working these issues with the clinic in our next visit. And we'll introduce some leadership training to optimize the clinic's human capital." McAfee said, "The biggest thing that comes out of this makeover is we're going to manage a much better ship here. We've received thousands of dollars of consulting for free on making over our clinic physically and in terms of management. If AAHA comes knocking on the door of a veterinary practice, my advice is jump on the opportunity. It's a great experience that will lead to better, more efficient management of veterinary practices." Krannert Executive Education Programs offers executive MBA programs as well as non-degree programs tailored to the specific needs of industries, companies and specialized areas of business. Writer: Mike Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu Sources: Mike Sheahan, (765) 494-5831, sheahan@krannert.purdue.edu Linda Lehman-Murphy, (800) 252-2242, linda.lehman-murphy@aahanet.org Larry McAfee, (219) 462-5901, mcafee.animal@verizon.net American Animal Hospital Association contact: Debbie Tracy, (800) 252-2252, debbie.tracy@aahanet.org Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu Note to Journalists: Video b-roll also is available by contacting Jason Doty at (765) 494-7091, rjdoty@purdue.edu. PHOTO CAPTION: A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2004/sheahan.makeover.jpeg
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