Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1469972
15 Spring/Summer 2022 | Livestock Solutions U.S. Department of Labor to calculate the healthcare portion of the CPI. 5 For veterinary practices, his expertise and insights couldn't be more relevant. What's the most effective way to increase prices today to help protect the health of both your practice and patients? Let's start with the obvious. The rationale for raising prices Inflation or not, owners will continue caring for their pets. Indeed, eight in 10 owners consider their pets to be members of the family. 6 And many owners would pay a veterinarian bill before their car or mortgage payment— or even to keep the lights on. 7 During the height of the pandemic, you no doubt saw your local animal shelter literally run out of pets as adoptions surged. Now more than ever, there are more pets who need care—and pet owners willing to pay for it. You may have also experienced first-hand another impact of the pandemic: a shortage of staff to care for the rising number of pets. As a result, many veterinary practices have needed to raise salaries and increase benefits to attract and retain the best employees. These costs are already a significant portion of a practice's budget. As they continue to rise, your practice will need to offset them. It's not a matter of whether to raise prices to help offset inflation and rising labor costs, but how. Even services companies with an altruistic nature such as animal hospitals owe it to themselves and their patients to stay financially healthy during inflationary periods. That means making a profit and protecting profit margins. Brian Beaulieu, CEO ITR Economics