Preconceptions that Can Limit Access to Veterinary Care: Looking Behind the Curtain

There are widely, although not universally, held potentially inaccurate, perceptions about clients, patients and veterinary practice that ultimately reduce access to veterinary care.  Discussed are the predicted impact of a low-cost veterinary clinic on a full cost clinic in the same community, the general health of pets belonging to homeless individuals and the importance of veterinary communication in this light. The hope is to facilitate reassessment of preconceptions and assumptions across the field so that veterinary care can be more available and rewarding to deliver. 

Presented in this session are results of extensive research work addressing three areas of misconception:  
1) Low cost clinics steal business from full price clinics
A widely-held notion is that non-profit or low cost veterinary clinics steal business from traditional, and full cost clinics.  This has resulted in legal action that makes it difficult for clinics to offer affordable services to underserved pet owners.  To address this question, we used fundamental economic concepts to model what happens when a low cost and full cost veterinary clinic are in the same community. The results show that the two clinics target different market segments. Low cost clinics target pet owners who are unable to afford full-cost services, but are able and willing to wait to receive services. Full-cost clinics target pet owners who are able and willing to pay for veterinary services at full price, and do not want to wait to receive services. In fact, the lower the cost charged at a low cost clinic, the more the low-cost clinic appeals to the low-cost segment and the full-cost clinic appeals to the full cost segment. Ultimately, the greater the price difference between the low and full cost clinics, the more pets are able to receive care and therefore, the greater the earnings for each clinic.
2) Pets of homeless individuals are not well-cared for. 

This presentation was recorded at the 2022 ASPCA Maddie's Cornell Shelter Medicine Conference.

Presenter: Margaret Slater, DVM, PhD

This program has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association.

keywords veterinary medicine, shelter medicine, 2022 ASPCA Maddie's Cornell Shelter Medicine Conference, access to veterinary care, low-cost clinics, low-cost veterinary care, homeless pets, people without homes, pet caregivers without homes, cost of veterinary care