The Veterinary Innovation Council believes it is important for all animals to have access to basic veterinary healthcare services.
Breaking Barriers - An Industry Wide Priority
-
Current State
-
VIC Recommendations
Access to Care: Current State
- The veterinary profession recognizes the science-based evidence supporting the positive impact of animals in our society and on human physical and emotional health (the human-animal bond).
- Approximately 70% of US households have pets, and the overwhelming majority of them see their pets as family members.
- Many pet owners in the US currently don’t regularly access veterinary healthcare services and, as a result, 88 million animals receive minimum to no care.
- 50% of pets are owned by households with less than $54,000 of income, supporting the notion that many families face financial constraints providing healthcare for the animal members of their families under the current structure of practice and delivery systems.
- Access to care is affected by many factors beyond finances, including geography, travel and transport challenges, scheduling obstacles, limited clinical resources, cultural and communication barriers, owner understanding of basic animal health conditions, owner awareness of the value of preventative care, and more.
- The Veterinary Innovation Council believes it is important for all animals to have access to basic veterinary healthcare services.
What Does VIC Recommend for the Profession?
We believe families with pets currently access care in a variety of ways, from traditional veterinary settings to new practice models, and through virtual care platforms that meet their needs. We are already seeing innovators in the market deploying models to deliver preventive care and triage advice, aimed to reach a broader segment of pet owners seeking those services.
However, right now, we do not have sufficient market solutions to provide care options and models to address the need for veterinary medical services across the spectrum of care needs (preventive, wellness, sick, condition management, etc.) for pets, particularly for those in households in lower income quartiles and veterinary services deserts.
We believe it is the responsibility of the veterinary profession to develop and embrace/accept more flexible and innovative solutions to expand the delivery of critical veterinary services to currently underserved pets, families and communities.
Therefore, our new goal is to explore solutions that expand access to a spectrum of care. In pursuit of this goal, we will research, collate and analyze data in these key areas:
- Identify existing clinical and business models that expand access by adopting a more flexible spectrum of care approach.
- Better understand how current value based / low-cost models impact the number of pets receiving care based on the demographic data of their communities compared to those that do not have these options available.
- Gather data on client cost and patient outcomes in practices that have adopted a spectrum of care approach compared to traditional companion animal practices.
- Gather published information to identify diagnostic and treatment options for commonly encountered clinical presentation that lower costs without materially affecting outcomes.
- Better understand the drivers of behaviors of pet owners that do not regularly seek traditional veterinary care, and the health outcomes for their pets.
Hear it First!
Stay in the know about VIC! Get the latest updates and news, learn about events we'll be attending and find out how you can support our initiatives by subscribing to our email list.