The elephant in the exam room: Money

August 9, 2011

My dual career as an author and a practicing veterinarian provides me with a unique vantage point. Not only am I privy to the issues my veterinary colleagues are stewing about, but I also get lots of emails from readers candidly venting about their experiences as consumers of veterinary medicine. It’s rare that those on both sides of the exam room table are growling about the same issue, but these days that’s exactly what’s happening.

See if you can identify the elephant in the exam room based on the following quotes from recent correspondence with my readers:

“Most of the decline in veterinary visits is primarily due to the bad economy. If you are barely scraping by, you are certainly not going to the vet for a very pricey annual exam, especially if your pet seems fine.”Eighty-nine percent of current veterinary school graduates have student debt. The average student loan debt of students graduating in 2010 from veterinary school was $133,873 (15% have debt in excess of $200,000) and the average starting salary was $48,674. (Veterinary Information Network News Service, January 4, 2011)“I’d love to take each of my cats in for dental cleaning on a regular basis, and I have two cats that desperately need attention now. For me, it’s a matter of costs. Vets continue to increase their charges. and there’s no break for multiple pets. Dental disease is a precursor for renal failure in cats and yet it’s so expensive for cleaning – yet alone extracting any teeth. Then blood work is usually advisable to be on the safe side. It’s a small fortune when you leave the vet’s office for one pet. Next you’ve got the cost associated with monthly flea control. You have to draw the line somewhere and hope for the best.”Fifty-four percent of cat owners and 47% of dog owners report that they would take their pet to the veterinary hospital more often if each visit were less expensive. (The Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study 2011)

Have you identified the common thread amongst these comments and statistics? No doubt in my mind that the gripe du jour is the M word: money.

This post is not intended to create or perpetuate harsh judgments. Please understand when I say that not every veterinarian or every person who brings their pet to see the vet is thinking primarily about money. Clearly, however, money matters are on the minds of many, in fact more so than I’ve witnessed throughout my thirty-year career. Never before have I observed colleagues declare bankruptcy. Never before have I spent so much time in the exam room trying to help folks figure out how to do more with less.

My goal in presenting this information is to create some understanding about what’s going on in the minds of individuals on both sides of the exam room table. Blame this financial state of mind on the diseased economy, veterinary competition, or the expense of going to veterinary school. Whatever the cause, there is an awful lot of emotion tangled up in the financial aspects of providing and receiving veterinary health care these days.

What are your thoughts? Let’s talk about it and in doing so we will be able to kick that big ol’ elephant out of the exam room!

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