I have cautioned customers to ask questions about the highly profitable but usually-unrewarding testing offered by corporate and franchise veterinary medicine.
“This test you’re suggesting: What can we do with the result? Does it lead to a successful treatment?”
This will stop a LOT of frivolous testing right in it’s tracks. And commission-based veterinarians hate it.
Fair Question: “Dr. Johnson you own your own practice. Don’t you have the same ‘conflict of interest’- recommending tests for extra income?”
Answer: “No. I can choose to raise my prices overall. That way I can sleep at night. I can still run -ONLY- the tests I actually NEED. And make a living because I can raise my prices as needed, in order to do so. For some veterinarians, (commission-based-working-for-a-franchise-or-chain) the only way to increase their standard of living, is to run more tests, and generate more commissions and bonuses.”
How Pet Care Became a Big Business – The New York Times
