May 11th, 2020

Categories
News Numbers

Weekend Industry Data Update 5/9-10/20

3.6%

Revenue

21.6%

Transactions

22.9%

ATC

2.7%

New clients

Summary: Weekend data was pretty weak, with all KPIs down except ATC, similar to previous weekend trends. Month to date is considerably down with comparable dates last year being weekdays comparing to poor weekend stats this year.

iVET360 data source: 786 hospitals across all 50 states. Ave hospital size $2 million. Daily stats are compared to the same weekday last year (ie. Tuesday to Tuesday comparison). Month to date stats is based on calendar month over last year.

May 9th, 2020

Categories
News Numbers

Daily Industry Data Update 5/8/20

8.3%

Revenue

2.8%

Transactions

11.4%

ATC

10.9%

New clients

Summary: Friday yielded a similar recent trend of revenue growth with transactions near even. Month to date is off 2.1% revenue and down 13.1% in transactions.

iVET360 data source: 788 hospitals across all 50 states. Avg hospital size $2 million. Daily stats are compared to the same weekday last year (ie. Thursday to Thursday comparison). Month to date stats is based on calendar month over last year.

May 8th, 2020

Categories
News Numbers

Daily Industry Data Update 5/7/20

10.6%

Revenue

0.6%

Transactions

11.3%

ATC

14.0%

New clients

Summary: Thursday yielding another day of strong numbers, with revenue up over 10% and new clients logging another strong day. Month to date is off 2.7% in revenue and new clients up 3.8%

iVET360 data source: 788 hospitals across all 50 states. Avg hospital size $2 million. Daily stats are compared to the same weekday last year (ie. Thursday to Thursday comparison). Month to date stats is based on calendar month over last year.

May 7th, 2020

Categories
News Numbers

Daily Industry Data Update 5/6/20

7.2%

Revenue

2.0%

Transactions

9.4%

ATC

23.5%

New clients

Summary: Wednesday was another day of nearly flat transactional growth and very strong new client growth. With strong ATC, revenue ended up 7.2%. Month to date is off 3.1% in revenue with new client growth in the positive.

iVET360 data source: 786 hospitals across all 50 states. Avg hospital size $2 million. Daily stats are compared to the same weekday last year (ie. Thursday to Thursday comparison). Month to date stats is based on calendar month over last year.

May 6th, 2020

Categories
News Numbers

Daily Industry Data Update 5/5/20

8.1%

Revenue

1.3%

Transactions

9.5%

ATC

15.4%

New clients

Summary: Tuesday presented strong performance over last year with near even transactional growth and strong new client growth. Month to date is looking better thanks to a strong Monday and Tuesday.

iVET360 data source: 786 hospitals across all 50 states. Avg hospital size $2 million. Daily stats are compared to the same weekday last year (ie. Thursday to Thursday comparison). Month to date stats is based on calendar month over last year.

May 6th, 2020

Categories
News Posts

How to Socialize Your Puppy… When You Can’t Be Social

Just when you thought you had social distancing in the bag, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending that your pets follow social distancing guidelines as well. (Insert sad dog emoji here).

While there’s no evidence that animals can pass the virus to humans, there are some confirmed cases where coronavirus has passed from a person to an animal.

So…what do you do if you have a new puppy that absolutely must have some meet & greets? Puppies have a limited window of time in the first four months which can significantly influence how they behave as adults, so it’s critical they experience new environments, people, and other animals. Skip it, and your pup could develop behavioral issues like fear aggression, separation anxiety or dog-to-dog reactivity.

But don’t panic. There are lots of fun experiences you can share with your new baby that don’t include new people and new dogs.

1. Surfaces. Introduce your puppy to a variety of surfaces to walk on like grass or gravel outside, carpet or wood floors inside. Be creative; see if your puppy will walk on a spread-out newspaper, paper bags or even a baking sheet. Try a dip in the tub—without water. Take things slowly, let your pup set the pace and offer lots of praise and rewards.

2. Handling. Practice handling for future visits to the vet or groomer. Try slowly massaging all parts of the body, including paws so nail trimming won’t be scary. If your pup is too young to go for walks, get him or her used to the weight of a leash attached to the collar.

3. Introductions at a distance. Sit on your porch, patio or lawn with your leashed pup and watch other dogs and people go by. As he gets older, go for short adventure walks or scavenger hunts—while maintaining appropriate social distance, of course.

4. Virtual socialization and training. Many trainers and training facilities are offering virtual puppy classes, and there are many online training resources and litters of great YouTube videos specifically for puppies as well. Puppies are even having their own ZOOM playdates, though sadly, they do lack the all-important rear sniffing component.

5. Sounds and scents. Doorbells, vacuum cleaners, car engines, bicycles, skateboards—your puppy needs exposure to anything they might encounter that makes sudden and/or loud noise. You can drop a can full of pennies, open an umbrella, or even have your phone ring loudly, then encourage your dog to remain calm.

6. DIY stranger. Dogs of all ages are having to adjust to greeting masked strangers, and it’s going to be important moving forward that your pup is ok with this. Try hats, glasses, and wigs, and get your family members to dress up, too.

7. Schedule and routine. Puppies and adult dogs do best on a schedule, and just like with human children, canine kids need a nap around the same time each day. Your pup also should learn to be calm when he is alone because sooner or later you’ll have to leave him by himself. A Kong-type toy stuffed with canned dog food or a frozen treat is a great idea so that he associates good things with your leaving.

In the end, you will eventually need direct contact to properly socialize your puppy, and if you are healthy and not at high risk for complications from COVID-19, you might consider playdates with another dog owner or two who is also healthy and willing.

If that’s not an option, the above activities will certainly help get you started. You can also check out the resources below for more ideas:

International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants

AKC COVID-19 Resource

May 5th, 2020

Categories
News

Elective Procedures Allowed to Resume in Oregon

Governor Kate Brown recently gave the green light to veterinarians across Oregon to resume some elective procedures and services. This means that animal hospitals and clinics can now perform routine dental cleanings, core vaccinations, and minor surgeries like spays, neuters, and mass removals.

COVID-19 safety protocols still apply. Veterinarians and technicians are being asked to operate on a curbside model for the foreseeable future, and certain services are to be prioritized over others. For instance, the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association recommends that non-urgent wellness checks be handled via telemedicine if possible and that boarding and grooming resume slowly with strict attention to social distancing guidelines.

For more information, you can read the complete statement on “Guidance on Resumption of Non-Emergent and Elective Procedures in Veterinary Facilities” from Governor Brown and the Oregon Health Authority or check out the OVMA’s recommendations for compliance here.

May 5th, 2020

Categories
News Numbers

Daily Industry Data Update 5/4/20

0.7%

Revenue

9.4%

Transactions

11.1%

ATC

6.3%

New clients

Summary: Monday revenue started out flat over the prior year with New Clients showing positive growth. Month to date is considerably off, with only a few days reporting.

iVET360 data source: 786 hospitals across all 50 states. Avg hospital size $2 million. Daily stats are compared to the same weekday last year (ie. Thursday to Thursday comparison). Month to date stats is based on calendar month over last year.

May 5th, 2020

Categories
News

April Data Review: The Slow Recovery

April Data Review:
The Slow Recovery

April’s data story is all about a slow recovery from the precipitous drop that began around mid-March. With many stay-at-home orders still in full force, April started out in a much similar position to where March ended.

When April ended, however, data was in a much different position, hinting at a steady recovery of a historically resilient industry. Over the course of April, the industry saw slow and steady positive movement across all major key performance indicators.

This is not to say there was growth in April—revenue and transactions were still in negative growth territory overall. New Client Growth (NCG) and Average TransactionCharge (ATC) did show growth over previous years, however.

But not everyone is seeing the light right now. Places like California that have been hit hard (especially those in the Bay Area) are seeing a slower recovery than most states. Fortunately, many clinics have received Paycheck Protection Program monies that can help them through the short-term pain that the COVID-19 crisis is causing.

April 2020:

Change over prior year, by day

Revenue is the product of Transactions and Average Transaction Charge (ATC).

As seen by the chart, ATC has continued to stay strong with growth over prior year, while transactional volume is the culprit for lack of revenue growth in April. It’s a similar story to what we saw in the second half of March. Due to the sustained losses posted in April, April ended up worse off overall than March. Down 13% in revenue, while March was only down 3%.

Below is a breakdown of revenue category performance for April 2020 compared to April 2019. There was an across the board slowdown in April with the only growth occurring in imaging. Grooming and boarding continue to show the largest drops.

Dietary products increased in March due to people stocking up for the stay-at-home order, but we did not see the same buying pattern play out in April. The large drops in dentistry and surgery were likely due to the bans on elective procedures in some states.

Transactions can be thought of as volume of visits into the hospital, and that’s obviously where we’ve seen some major negative impacts.

Overall volume through clinics is the metric that has driven poor results for the industry during the COVID-19 crisis. April saw outcomes similar to the second half ofMarch, but over the course of the month there was great improvement. The improvement could be the result of “non-essential” procedures and surgeries now becoming more urgent in nature, or from the population’s change in attitude and compliance regarding stay-at-home protocols.

April saw another similar trend to what was reported for the second half of March, with very low transactions and high ATC on weekends (Sunday in particular)—however this time, the Easter Sunday holiday may have played into a few weekends. Since Easter fell earlier this year than last year (the 20th versus the 12th), that explains the large negative variances on the 12th and the above-par performance on the 20th.

Average Transaction Charge is the average amount spent during a visit.

ATC held strong through April as it did in March, driven by a decrease in wellness visits and an increase in more urgent cases. Augmenting this even further is general practice electing to remove Sundays from the schedule in times of a slowdown. With emergency clinics remaining open, this exacerbates high ATC.

New client growth was the only metric (aside from ATC) that demonstrated positive movement as April came to a close. Seven of the last 15 days in April were up in that metric, further demonstrating signs of recovery.

Be sure to keep up with our daily stats on iVET360’s dedicated COVID-19 site to see how you are faring against the rest of the industry. We also invite you to take advantage of three complimentary months of our Pulse reporting platform so you can more easily and accurately monitor your business and navigate this difficult time.

May 4th, 2020

Categories
News Numbers

Weekend Industry Data Update 5/2-3/20

11.9%

Revenue

27.1%

Transactions

20.8%

ATC

6.6%

New clients

Summary: The first weekend in May started off very similar to other weekends during the Covid-19 crisis, low transactions, and very high ATC increases. Month to date (through May 3rd) is showing off quite a bit to the prior year. Take this with a grain of salt as the first three days of April 2019 were all weekdays, comparing to a full weekend this year.

iVET360 data source: 786 hospitals across all 50 states. Ave hospital size $2 million. Daily stats are compared to the same weekday last year (ie. Tuesday to Tuesday comparison). Month to date stats is based on calendar month over last year.