Veterinary Practice Manager

Veterinary Practice Manager- THE PET HOSPITALS- Collierville

Position Overview

A Thrive Practice Manager (PM) is critical to the success of the hospital, ensuring a positive culture built on shared values and direct communication, creating operational efficiency, and problem solving to improve client service and employee engagement. Typically, the PM is the “Integrator” on the hospital’s accountability chart and participates in the Pathway Planning leadership meetings.

Key to the PM’s role is the ability to create and maintain a positive culture and work environment, in alignment with the hospital’s Pathway plan. This person is creative yet able to develop and implement practical programs. The manager exercises sound judgment, and the willingness and capability to make decisions.

Specifically, the PM oversees the business activities of the hospital. These duties include hiring and training hospital staff; working with Pathway finance to prepare and manage budgets; monitoring and analyzing key performance indicators; setting fees; maintaining inventory and an inventory control system; managing the hospital software; and implementing safety and security procedures.

The PM is responsible for all accounting and financial control functions, including financial planning, budgeting, control and reporting systems, and financial analyses. The PM is responsible, with the hospital leadership team, for hitting revenue targets and managing costs effectively. The practice manager ensures the hospital’s management team has adequate visibility into operations so that the team members know how the hospital is performing, what the goals are, and how they contribute to achieving the goals.

Additionally, the PM may be involved in other hospital projects such as marketing, community outreach, and staff recognition.

A successful practice manager changes focus and roles quickly in order to successfully interact with a variety of people, both inside the hospital and in the community. The manager has a high degree of business acumen and is attuned to the variables that affect the hospital’s financial performance. In addition, the practice manager is highly motivated to contribute substantively to the hospital’s success.

Reporting Structure

Regional Director of Operations

Primary Responsibilities

Operations

• With the Medical Director and/or Hospital Admin, ensures hospital workflow is efficient and meets needs of clients
• Initiates and leads programs to improve revenue, client retention and employee performance
• Makes informed decisions to ensure hospital meets annual revenue and EBITDA targets
• Reviews and develops key performance indicators and discusses them with the owners and management team. Implements policies and programs to reverse negative trends.

Human Resources

• Plans and organizes all personnel activities.
• Writes job descriptions
• Maintains employee personnel files
• Schedules performance reviews for lay staff and veterinarians. Sets performance goals at these reviews. Helps staff and veterinarians create feasible plans for obtaining these goals. Holds staff and veterinarians accountable for failure to reach these goals.
• Assists in the resolution of staff issues. Trains staff in conflict-resolution techniques.
• Oversees the hiring process and manages hospital staff and team leaders. In concert with the management team, revises the hiring process as needed.
• Schedules staff and veterinarians.
• Oversees implementation of phase training and helps staff plan for continuing education. Establishes and maintains publications and veterinary medicine library.
• Interviews applicants for supervisory positions.
• Assists in developing and maintaining salary schedules and job evaluations for all employees. Responsible for managing labor costs to budget.
• Maintains a work group that effectively executes its assigned functions, and that is highly responsive to management’s needs for control, information, and analysis.
• Enforces hospital policies and procedures
• Interfaces between staff and Pathway HR support; answers basic HR questions for employees

Finance and Accounting

• Assists in establishing and maintaining sound financial control and reporting systems. Exercises necessary functional authority to ensure that control policies and procedures are followed.
• Maintains knowledge of current developments in accounting theory and practice, and in financial techniques for measurement, analysis, and planning.
• Assists in conducting long-range financial planning.
• Works with the finance in preparing and managing budgets.
• Ensures the timely preparation of financial reports, as requested.
• Monitors and reports on accounts payable and accounts receivable.
• Enforces policy of keeping receivables lower than 5% of gross revenue.
• Establishes and maintains an inventory control system to ensure adequate stocks of supplies are available. Plans for periodic inventory audits. Negotiates best prices. Manages inventory to target budget
• Develops and maintains suitable procedures for controlling and valuing inventories.
• Assists in analyzing and interpreting financial data for management, with an emphasis on identifying problems, identifying trends, and forecasting the financial consequences of alternative decisions.
• Ensures that appropriate accounting records are maintained on all assets, liabilities, and transactions.
• Assists in developing and maintaining appropriate cash flow projections and controls. Continually reviews the hospital’s cash position to ensure that adequate funds are available to meet outstanding and planned commitments.
• Develops and maintains suitable procedures for handling cash and all other assets to protect the hospital against loss from negligence and theft.
• Participates in the analysis of financing requirements. Develops and recommends appropriate methods of financing.
• Prepares appropriate forms and reports related to payroll, property, and sales tax compliance.
• Performs special analytical, statistical, and financial studies as required.

Equipment and Facility Maintenance

• Oversees the schedule for hospital maintenance.
• Contracts for and supervises all maintenance activities to ensure that hospital medical standards are met.
• Orders and supervises storage of non-medical supplies.
• Maintains a facility that is visually appealing to clients and staff.

Client Relations

• Promotes a client-centered environment and facilitates programs and processes that meet clients’ needs.
• Follows the hospital’s stated goals and methods for attracting new clients and retaining existing clients.
• Resolves client problems that veterinarians or other staff members cannot resolve. Oversees the client complaint-resolution process.
• Resolves financial problems with clients and collects on delinquent accounts and returned checks. Determines when special financial agreements are appropriate.

Marketing

• Initiates new programs and markets services through public-relations campaigns. Tracks these programs to determine effectiveness and return on investment.
• Promotes internal marketing programs to increase client/patient visitation rate and engagement.
• Collaborates with Pathway Marketing to create, maintain and track campaigns

Administrative

• Leads Pathway Planning meetings
• Ensures that the hospital team receives the information they need to successfully contribute to the hospital’s one-year, three-year, and five-year goals.
• Ensures Workers Comp procedures are followed
• Assists in contract negotiations, ensuring that agreements are financially sound.
• Supervises usage of practice management software to ensure that client records meet the standards of care and service established by the practice management team.

Culture and Work Environment

• Communicates the practice’s values and mission to the team. Motivates staff, and helps build and maintain morale.
• Upholds core values and standards.
• Holds regular staff meetings, including a component of mandatory training on standards of service and standards of care.
• Promotes a cooperative working environment among staff members; understands the value of teamwork.
• Is enthusiastically willing to perform as necessary to help the hospital function as a unit.
• Promotes continuous quality improvement (CQI) to ensure the practice’s success and achieve the vision.

Personal Conduct

• Adheres to all hospital policies and standards regarding uniforms, grooming, smoking, and personal calls, as stated in the hospital procedures manual.
• Serves as a representative of the hospital, displaying courtesy, tact, consideration, and a positive attitude in all interactions with clients, patients, and other members of the staff.
• Demonstrates initiative in everyday duties by seeking other work during down times, assisting other employees, and filling in for other employees as needed.
• Adheres to the posted work schedule. Arrives for work promptly and is ready to begin working at the start time. Follows hospital policies for reporting lateness or absences.
• Organizes work area and exercises time-management skills to maximize personal efficiency.
• Prioritizes tasks and handles multiple tasks in a calm, organized manner.

Additional Duties

• Leads departmental and staff meetings.

Requirements

• Ability to analyze various sources of data in order to establish priorities and initiate operational programs
• Sound personal judgment in decision-making
• Capable of leading, managing, and coaching staff at all levels
• Demonstrated competence in all aspects of staff management, including hiring and firing
• Demonstrated ability to show empathy toward clients and treat animals with respect and compassion.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills; preferably completed VGPs EQ and Commando Conversation seminars
• A commitment to outstanding client service.
• Demonstrated competence in budgeting and financial reporting, including reading and analyzing a P&L statement
• Solid math and Excel/spreadsheet skills.
• Certified Veterinary Practice Manager designation or equivalent work experience
• Three years of supervisory experience.
• Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in business or related field.
• Preferred: three years or more of managing a veterinary practice.
• Ability to lift objects weighing 40 pounds without assistance and objects weighing more than 40 pounds with assistance.
• Availability to occasionally work uncommon hours and overtime, and to be subject to recall for business emergencies.
• Must be able to withstand unpleasant odors and noises. May be exposed to bites, scratches, animal waste, and contagious diseases.