Pulse - September 2023 - 17

TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
Compliance Defiance
To get patients on track with preventives, you need to understand
why owners shun your parasite-fighting recommendations.
Courtesy of Today's Veterinary Business
T
he veterinary team does it every day:
Schedule the puppy appointment and
tell the client to bring in a fecal sample
from the pet to check for parasites. Of
course, the client forgets (or tells you the
breeder already dewormed the dog or
declines the test after seeing no evidence
of intestinal worms). Commence eye roll.
Go into your spiel about standard operating
procedures, document the pet owner's
acceptance or rejection, and move to the
next exam room. You do it again with the
next patient, an adult dog whose owner
isn't interested in preventives because
" they cost too much. "
Why do the conversations hit so many snags? What's so
hard about grabbing a fecal sample in the backyard? Why does
a dog owner think the breeder's deworming protocol is a oneand-done
treatment? What's the problem with following veterinary
recommendations meant to benefit the pet?
Before the finger-pointing starts, hit rewind and delve into
each step. First, think about the client. People are notoriously
noncompliant. Get a group of veterinarians, dentists and pediatricians
in a room and you'll hear how people don't do what
the doctor recommends. I don't mean to blur the line between
pets and children, but the medication compliance range for
pediatric patients ranges from 11% to 93%, with an estimated
average of 50%. (Learn more at bit.ly/3NOxXmn.)
Now, if that's the statistic for children, it stands to reason
that the range is similar for pets.
Potential Barriers
Why the lack of compliance? Don't assume it's always about
money. Other reasons include: Difficulty administering pet
medications, lack of understanding about parasite life cycles,
the purpose of preventives and their proper use, the client's
health literacy level, Inconvenience, fear of side effects, the
treatment plan is complex, cultural differences or a lack of
perceived value.
All those reasons should provide food for thought about
why clients often ignore veterinary recommendations, not
just those involving parasite preventives. Pet owners can easily
claim a lack of affordability when, in fact, they hate wrestling
PULSE
SEPTEMBER 2023
a pill into a pet's mouth, or the condition and treatment protocol
confuses them. Therefore, the client faults the price of the
medication, and the hospital team backs off. The cost is like
kryptonite to veterinary teams, weakening their drive to deliver
care and frustrating and infuriating them simultaneously.
Find the Time
Your team needs to achieve comfort in getting to the root of
the compliance issue and use that knowledge to help the client
overcome the barriers. That brings us back to the team.
As painful as it sounds, your staff sometimes contributes to
a client's lack of compliance. Team members often assume that
pet owners understand a lot about parasites and preventives,
but do they? In most cases, no. There isn't enough time in the
day to thoroughly discuss the topic, dispel myths and talk
about what Dr. Google said. Perhaps therein lies the problem:
The team can't take the time (or isn't trying) to educate pet
owners about parasites and preventives and dig into the lack
of compliance.
" We think people comprehend and remember our recommendations,
whereas, in reality, most clients only remember
about 15% of what we tell them if we tell them at all, and
they need repetition of every topic we discuss, " said Nan Boss,
17
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Pulse - September 2023

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