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Multiple Owners Make for Multiple Opportunities in Practice

By VHMA Admin posted 11-04-2017 09:51

  
Over the years we have seen an evolution in circumstances pertaining to patients that have multiple owners with interests or responsibility for their care. This type of patient may be a family pet; a working animal, breeding stock, show/performance animal, etc. While some of these patients have a single owner depicted as the authorized person to make all decisions for the patient, many do not. Multiple “owners” correlate to multiple “advocates” which can be good for the patient – but there can be obstacles for the practice in providing authorized care. Having protocols in place for patients of this paradigm can improve efficiency in providing treatment, reduce associated risk and liabilities, and bolster improved acceptance and compliance of recommendation/treatment plans.

While risk is always a concern in veterinary practice management, sometimes we overlook the simple situations that can easily improve our organizations outcomes. For patients with multiple owners, communication, authorization, and the consent process can become confusing and cumbersome; this can easily allow risk factors to increase. Whether related to financing, consent, or other related responsibilities, consider requiring a single owner to relay the collective decisions for the patient. As this is not always possible, consider documenting all communication with all owners for timely consensus on directives and decisions of impact (e.g. – email distros, conference/skype calls with all owners, etc.). Establishing protocols and flexible/efficient communication options for these types of situations will allow for reduced risk and liabilities related to joint/multi-ownership patients.

When we consider recommendations and treatment plan acceptance, we should always look for the opportunity to bolster client confidence and compliance in groups. It's natural for most of us to seek support for decisions we make daily; in the same vein it can be fruitful for hospitals to consider this as an opportunity versus an obstacle. Ownership interests and responsibilities in the patient advocate/decision chain can vary significantly – so having a variance of opinions (owners) in this process can assist in weeding out any outlying concerns and resistance supporting traction towards ultimate acceptance and ongoing compliance.

However your practice handles multi-ownership patients/cases, it would be prudent to consider harnessing the power of these numbers for the betterment of patient, client, and practice outcomes. Notwithstanding the additional efforts related to client/patient relationships, a well-considered and efficient plan for managing these situations can effectively overcome obstacles and outweigh any negative impacts, while improving compliance and reducing associated risk and liabilities.
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