Greetings All!!
Dr. AJ and I had the good fortune of attending the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Forum in Montreal, Canada during the first week of June. This continuing education conference is a venue at which leading edge medical research is presented and where the brightest minds in veterinary internal medicine come together to enlighten each other. It was a great opportunity for us to interact with a large group of veterinary specialists and hang out with our friends at the ACVIM Foundation (more about them later). Perhaps one of the most important points that was repeatedly brought up to Dr. AJ and myself while chatting up the internal medicine specialists, neurologists, and cardiologists was this: specialty medicine needs veterinary pet insurance as much as pet owners.
The reality of specialty medicine is that it is expensive. Technology is expensive. Expertise is expensive. When I recommend referral to a client, it is based upon the necessity for expertise and technology required to diagnose and treat a problem that is beyond the scope of what we can offer at our general practice. This is the standard of care that both Dr. AJ and I were trained to provide. Our generation (and subsequent generations) of veterinarians were trained to understand the importance of specialty medicine in order to provide the highest standard of care. Our four-legged family members deserve to have access to this level of care.
One of the questions we posed to the specialists was, “How are your practices doing in this economy?” The answer was consistent. Clients are still going to the specialist when referral was recommended by their veterinarian, however, owners tended to halt diagnostic and treatment efforts sooner due to financial constraints. Be assured that Dr. AJ and I are working very hard to make sure VetCareComplete gives pet owners the ability to take advantage of the benefits of veterinary specialists without the financial worry!
I mentioned earlier that while at the conference, we spent time at the ACVIM Foundation booth. The ACVIM Foundation creates awareness of specialty medicine and funds vital research and residency programs across the country. Through programs such as Paws for Cures, the ACVIM Foundation helps to provide grants for the research that pioneers tomorrow’s cures. Dr. AJ and I would like to thank our good friends Paula, Heather, Lauren, and Gregg for allowing us to hang out with them at the booth and help out where we could. You can make a difference too, by visiting http://pawsforcures.org/ or http://www.acvimfoundation.org/ and make a donation that will benefit all of our beloved family members!!
Love to all!!
Dr. Keith
