As a private veterinary practice owner, you’re no stranger to the chaos of a rollercoaster schedule. Too busy, and your team’s frazzled, clients feel rushed, and you’re stuck managing emergencies past dinner. Too slow, and you’re bleeding cash on idle staff while the phone goes unanswered. At Applause – The Standing Ovation Practice, we believe your practice can hit the “Goldilocks Zone”—not too hot, not too cold, but just right—where clients rave, your team thrives, and you’re home before bedtime. The secret? The 2025 Veterinary Hybrid Model, tailored for you, the private DVM owner, to smooth out seasonal swings and keep your practice humming. Here’s how to make it work.
The Rollercoaster Problem
Your private practice likely rides a seasonal wave. Summer floods you with urgent cases—hit-by-cars, GDVs, blocked cats—pushing your team to the brink with overtime and leaving clients like Mrs. Butterworth, who loves her 30-minute chat about “Teddy,” with a rushed five-minute exam. Come fall, the pace slows, and you’re overstaffed, paying techs to reorganize supplies while profits dwindle. Clients notice: they feel shortchanged during peak chaos and ignored during slow months when staff chat instead of answering phones.
The root issue? Most practices let the calendar dictate their flow, reacting to seasons instead of controlling them. The Hybrid Model changes that, balancing wellness and urgent care to keep your practice in the Goldilocks Zone—delivering exceptional client experiences, engaged staff, and steady profits.
The Cost of Imbalance: Overtime vs. Undertime
An overbusy practice in “overtime” mode breeds mistakes, tension, and unhappy clients. I once lost a loyal client, Mr. Jenkins, when his Lab “Rusty” got a 10-minute vaccine visit during a slammed summer day, down from his usual 20. He switched clinics, and that stung. Conversely, slow months bring “undertime”: bored staff make careless errors, payroll eats revenue, and clients wait while your team finishes a coffee chat. Both extremes hurt your bottom line and erode the trust that makes your private practice stand out.
Your goal as a DVM owner? Achieve the perfect level of busyness by aligning four factors: client transactions, DVMs, support staff, and your practice’s capacity. The Hybrid Model is your roadmap.
The Goldilocks Zone: A System for Success
Every private practice has an ideal busyness level, driven by its physical space, hours, and team. Here’s how to dial it in:
Step 1: Calculate Transactions with the 10% Rule
Your medical square footage (excluding boarding or grooming) and hours of operation set your transaction capacity. Use the “10% Rule”: ideal weekly client transactions equal 10% of your medical square footage in a 50–60-hour workweek. Multiply by 4.33 for monthly transactions.
Example:
A 2600-square-foot practice, open 56 hours (8am–6pm Monday–Friday, plus Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings), can handle 260 weekly transactions (1125 monthly). A 6000-square-foot practice with seven exam rooms? That’s 600 weekly (2600 monthly). A transaction is any closed invoice, from a food sale to a multi-day ICU stay. Exceed this, and you’re red-lining, risking burnout and errors. Fall short, and you’re wasting potential, losing revenue.
Step 2: Right-Size Your DVM Team
Next, determine how many DVMs you need. A small-animal DVM, 2–3 years post-grad in a fixed facility, can manage ~450 transactions per month. This accounts for client consults, records, research, and surgery.
Example
: Your 2600-square-foot practice with 1125 monthly transactions needs ~2.5 DVMs (1125 ÷ 450). Hiring a third DVM without enough transactions risks financial strain or layoffs. New grads, still building skills, may handle only 50% of this, while seasoned DVMs with efficient staff and AI-assisted records could hit 1000–1200. Run the numbers before recruiting to avoid costly missteps.
Step 3: Optimize Support Staff
Support staff keep your practice running smoothly. The rule: one full-time equivalent (FTE) DVM needs four FTE support staff (two front desk, two techs), based on a 40-hour workweek.
Example:
With three DVMs—one at 40 hours, one at 25, one at 15—that’s 80 hours, or 2 FTE DVMs. You’ll need 8 FTE support staff (4 front, 4 techs). This keeps payroll at ~22% of revenue for DVMs and 22% for non-DVMs, a sustainable benchmark for private practices.
Taming the Seasonal Rollercoaster
Most private practices see dramatic seasonal swings—busy summers, quiet winters. To confirm, pull 32 months of transaction data from your Practice Information Management System (PIMS) and graph it monthly. Calculate the percentage difference between your highest and lowest months. If it’s over 30%, you’re battling overtime and undertime. The Hybrid Model flattens this curve.
The 2025 Hybrid Model: Wellness Meets Urgent Care
Instead of letting seasons control your schedule, the Hybrid Model splits your year into Wellness and Urgent Care seasons, balancing client needs and practice capacity.
- Identify Seasons: Use your 32-month PIMS data to pinpoint slow and busy periods. For example, if urgent cases drop by late September, set October 1–April 30 as your Wellness Season and May 1–September 30 as your Urgent Care Season.
- Wellness Season (Slow Months): Schedule wellness exams, blood work, dentals, and clients like Mrs. Butterworth who love longer consults. This fills slow months, keeping staff engaged and revenue steady.
- Urgent Care Season (Busy Months): Prioritize emergencies and complex cases, which often carry higher fees and boost profitability.
Real-World Win:
A client brought her cat “Mittens” for a dental in chaotic July. Swamped with emergencies, we rushed the service, and she left frustrated. After adopting the Hybrid Model, we rescheduled her next dental for November (Wellness Season). She got a thorough 30-minute consult, left thrilled, and booked her next visit. The model isn’t rigid—some wellness care happens in busy months—but sticking to it 80% of the time smooths the rollercoaster.
The Payoff: A Standing Ovation Practice
The Hybrid Model keeps your practice in the Goldilocks Zone. Clients get unhurried, personalized care, whether it’s a wellness exam or an emergency surgery. Your team stays challenged but not burned out, reducing turnover. And your profits stabilize, letting you invest in your practice and still make it home for family time. It’s a win-win-win for you, your clients, and your staff.
Action Items for Private DVM Owners
Ready to transform your practice into a Standing Ovation success? Start here:
- Analyze Transactions: Pull 32 months of PIMS data and graph monthly trends to identify seasonal highs and lows.
- Assess Seasonal Gaps: If the difference between high and low months exceeds 30%, commit to the Hybrid Model.
- Define Seasons: Set your Wellness Season (e.g., October 1–April 30) and Urgent Care Season (e.g., May 1–September 30) based on data.
- Schedule Strategically: Push wellness exams, dentals, and blood work into slow months; reserve busy months for urgent care.
- Adjust Staffing: Quarterly, align DVM and support staff schedules with transaction volume to avoid over- or understaffing.
- Monitor Metrics: Track overtime and undertime monthly to protect profits and staff morale.
- Get a Free Practice Potential Analysis: Optimize your practice’s performance with a tailored assessment. [Insert Practice Potential Analysis link here]
Your Path to a Thriving Practice
Running a private veterinary practice doesn’t have to feel like a wild ride. The 2025 Hybrid Model empowers you to control your schedule, balancing wellness and urgent care to deliver exceptional client experiences, keep your team engaged, and protect your profits. Pair this with smart fee-setting (see our previous post) and savvy marketing (coming soon), and you’ll have a practice that earns Applause from clients and staff alike.
Take these steps today, and watch your private practice shine as the talk of your community—for all the right reasons.
