Consolidate That!

Today on Consolidate That! with Dr. Ivan Zak and Ryan Leech, we discuss continuous improvement in the veterinary world. Ivan talks about the difference between continuous education and continuous learning cultures, and how many veterinarians experience burnout once they’ve completed their studies and find themselves in a repetitive practice environment. 

Topics discussed:

• The difference between continuous education and continuous learning cultures.
• Reasons veterinarians love to learn and continue to learn.
• How consolidators should look at implementing opportunities for people to learn.
• Micro-learning and micro-accreditation: a good way to structure education for consolidation.
• How continuous learning cultures need to be structured and systematized.

In this fascinating episode, we are talking to Shawn McVey, co-founder of Pathway Vet Alliance. Shawn has had phenomenal success with helping veterinary businesses move from reactive and inconsistent practices to successful, profitable, and fully integrated workspaces. 

Providing real-world examples from his many years of experience, he also talks us through his journey with numerous clinics and associations that formed and benefited his journey to conceptualizing and implementing Pathway. 

Topics discussed:

• A fascinating overview of the behavioral psychology behind why people are veterinarians.
• Realizing that there is a huge emotional intelligence problem that needs attention and management. 
• Finding out the most vulnerable points of veterinarians, mostly stemming from communication.
• Partnering with Jasen Trautwein, and turning 2 practices into 27 in just a year and a half. 
• Discussing burnout, the suicide rate, and losing touch with the world outside of your practice.
• Diving deep into Pathway planning, culture, and choosing core values.

Our guest, Kevin Burke of VetPay, introduces us to the payment processing industry and how it has evolved over time. We've touched on why consolidators should be looking at their payment processing statements every month and how VetPay has made sure to keep up with the changes, while at the same time providing their customers with lower prices, a high degree of transparency, and personal customer service.

Topics discussed:

• Competition in the credit card processing space.
• How VetPay differentiates themselves from other payment processors.
• The biggest drawbacks and benefits of integration.
• Analyses that VetPay does for consolidators who come to them for advice on optimizing their consolidations. 
• Benefits of interchange plus pricing as opposed to flat rates.

Today we are joined by Matthew Flann, veterinary surgeon, and director at Pennard Vets. He explains the transition to an employee-owned model, how this model has influenced Pennard Vets’ ability to hire veterinarians, how the company’s internal culture has changed, and how the employees’ 70 percent ownership affects the decision-making process and strategy of the company.

Topics discussed:

• An introduction to Pennard Vets and how they came to be employee-owned.
• How the decision to transition into this model was received by the company’s employees. 
• How this model has influenced Pennard Vets’ ability to hire veterinarians.  
• Insight into how the company culture is changing since the introduction of this new model.
• The system through which employee ideas are communicated to the management team.

During episode #40, Clint Latham, the Founder of Lucca Vet, gives an overview of what cybersecurity in the industry currently looks like and sheds light on where consolidators’ vulnerabilities lie. Our conversation touches on what consolidators should do when they acquire a practice, how to keep data more secure, and the value of psychological safety in your workplace. 

Topics discussed:

• The state of cybersecurity in the consolidated veterinary landscape
• A business email compromise that commonly occurs
• Finding the middle ground between server and cloud
• Cint’s advice for what consolidators should be doing immediately after acquisition
• Basic things we can be doing to keep our business data more secure

In today’s episode, Yang Shi, the Co-Founder and CEO of VetSnap, rejoins Dr. Ivan Zak and Ryan Leech to talk about consolidators and the hospital technology stack.

We discuss the process of selecting what software to roll out first in hospitals after the acquisition, the importance of building a strong relationship with the vendors, and how the powerful inventory management VetSnap helps clinical staff.

Topics discussed:

• Ways to surface up the most valuable opportunities to pursue;
• Building an ongoing relationship with your software vendors;
• The importance of focusing on the clinical team;
• Supporting hospitals after initial deployment;
• The benefits of finding vendors that are in the early stage of growth;

Greg Schimpff from VetSnap shares his experience and expertise on the management of vendor partnerships and understanding acquired hospitals' preferences. 

We also discuss better communication practices and the exciting innovations that Greg has noticed in the field during the last decade.

Topics discussed:

• The importance of trust and familiarity for building relationships in the procurement field.
• A look at the value stream for procurement, and its evolution over time. 
• Dealing with acquired hospitals and inherited vendors. 
• Greg's process for aligning with vets and medical teams to keep different parties happy.

Today's conversation will touch upon a crucial topic in our domain - recruiting. Our guest, Stacy Pursell, CEO and Founder of Therio Partners and The Vet Recruiter, joins us to explain how the relative shortage of qualified veterinarians leads to an array of imbalances in the hiring space. We discuss the top priorities for candidates and receive great advice and recommendations. 

Topics discussed:

• Talent shortages in the veterinarian space and the challenges of filling important roles. 
• Top factors for veterinarians looking for work. 
• How Stacy approaches helping employers and candidates and facilitates the process.  
• The future of veterinary hiring.

In today’s episode, Dr. Ivan Zak and Ryan Leech continue their conversation about value stream mapping, this time analyzing it from the perspective of the various different levels within an organization. 

They cover how to transition from an idea to a business plan, the tool which makes it easy to visualize your value stream, and what the exploration phase of acquisition entails. 

Topics discussed:

• Hospital level value streams in comparison to consolidation level value streams.
• Why it’s important to have a process for creating processes within an organization.
• Examples of the steps involved in hospital improvement processes.
• The value that is provided by Kanban boards in the value stream mapping process.
• How processes eliminate waste within an organization.

In our special episode of the Consolidate That!, Dr. Beth Davidow, Clinical Assistant Professor at Washington State University, and Dr. Karen Felsted, CPA, Founder and consultant at PantheraT, join Dr. Ivan Zak to discuss the evolution of partnership models and how sellers can get the best terms for themselves and their employees.

Topics discussed:

• Different partnership models and their pros and cons
• Ways to increase practice valuation
• When it’s a good time to sell a practice
• Things you have to ask the buyer
• What effect does acquisition have on the team