How Foster Veterinary Clinic Built a Successful Preventive Care Protocol
At Foster Veterinary Clinic in Foster, Rhode Island, preventive care has sparked transformative benefits—not only in patient health but in the practice's daily operations and how veterinarian-owner Dr. Stacey Hattan's team provides care. With diligent effort and thoughtful consideration, the Foster Veterinary Clinic team has built value and excitement for wellness screenings and early disease detection through client involvement, education, and empowerment.
It Started With Stool: Introducing Preventive Pet Care Concepts to Clients
Communicating the value of routine patient screening tests is an early hurdle for many practices hoping to launch a wellness program. At Foster Vet, Dr. Hattan turned to a well-established client behavior to increase understanding and set new expectations.
"For decades, we've trained pet parents to bring in stool samples for baseline testing, with the idea that parasite-free pets are healthier," Dr. Hattan explains. "Now, we can expand on this idea by introducing [the concept of lab work], allowing us to detect disease and intervene earlier, and have those pets enjoy healthier lives."
From There to Here: Positive Changes Throughout the Practice
In the five years since Dr. Hattan and her team began educating clients on the importance of wellness screenings for healthy pets, they've discovered a practice-wide shift. In addition to the positive impact on Foster Vet's bottom line and pet wellness through early disease detection, Dr. Hattan credits the practice's wellness care protocol with enhancing the health of everything from staff morale to the veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR).
"Preventive care lab work is good for everyone. My team is actively engaged—they love providing better care and detecting diseases earlier. I've also cultivated a clientele that loves lab work, too. Clients will bring a urine and stool sample just so they can do another screening test," Dr. Hattan says. "Despite the expense, most pet parents want to feel like they're providing the best possible care for their pet—including veterinary care."
Small Steps, Big Results: Keys To Implementing a Successful Preventive Care Protocol
Creating large-scale change within a practice begins with small but consistent efforts. Here are some key steps Dr. Hattan credits for her protocol's success:
Building Client Understanding
Helping pet owners see that wellness care is more than "extra tests" builds value and trust.
"New pet owners are well-intentioned, they want the best—but they only know what they see on TV," Dr. Hattan says. "As a veterinarian, I can help them make better choices—introducing lab work and testing, and helping them take better care of their pets."
To help create buy-in for owners with young healthy animals, Dr. Hattan explains the value of early detection: "We do detect disease in 4- to 6-year-old pets—and [when we do,] we can make changes that make those pets healthier. When [clients] see that there is something you can do with [abnormal findings], they are definitely more on board."
Explaining the Power of Baseline Testing for Pets
To help owners see wellness care as a long-term investment in their pets' health, Dr. Hattan stresses the importance of establishing baseline testing values for pets.
"Even when the results are normal, they give us a baseline for that animal. When we test in the future or the pet is sick, we can better appreciate changes, and that can give us valuable information," she says.
Sharing Informative Pet Health Resources and Handouts To Reinforce the Message
The Foster Vet team uses various visual aids and helpful materials to promote wellness care, communicate the breadth and depth of its capabilities, and extend the client conversation beyond the clinic's doors.
"We hand out printed materials all the time," Dr. Hattan says. "We have posters that explain which body systems are checked by our lab work, as well as brochures on different disease processes."
When Dr. Hattan recommends a specific test for an at-risk patient, she says, "I can give the client a handout and they can read about that disease. Oftentimes, they'll come back and understand the value of that test."
Leveraging Lab Support To Understand "New" Healthy Pet Findings
Dr. Hattan attributes some of her program's success to the partnership and support she receives from her reference lab.
"One of the 'problems' with preventive care lab work is that we find early trends that make us say, 'Now what?' But [with our lab] there's always someone to call and ask, someone to talk to. As a solo practitioner, it's helpful to know I can always call," she explains.
Cultivating a Wellness Care Culture by Involving the Entire Team
Ensuring each Foster Vet team member understands wellness care's importance and value can help veterinary staff take ownership of the initiative and enjoy the rewards of creating better outcomes for pets and clients.
"My entire team is engaged in preventive care," Dr. Hattan says. "My receptionists will recommend that pet parents bring urine and stool samples. This enables my technicians to have a conversation about lab work."
By equipping her team with the knowledge and training to answer most client questions, Dr. Hattan says that the team feels "empowered, intelligent, and capable. They are actively involved in achieving their career goals of improving pet health."
Looking Ahead: Preventive Medicine and the Future of Veterinary Care
For Dr. Hattan and her team, wellness care has opened up a world of opportunity and a new, deeper level of care.
"The traditional way of doing things is to wait until the pet's sick and that's when you treat," Dr. Hattan explains. "But I'm in preventive care… [Being able to perform] lab work before a sign appears so that we can intervene before the pet has the disease—the value of that is unmeasurable. After 20-plus years in the field, I see this as the future. It's helping me stay current, and give the benefits of modern medicine to our clientele."
