Field Compliance Study Regarding the Value of Pet Photos, in Color, on Vaccination Reminders

Scott Lehmann 

Introduction

Recent compliance surveys conducted by industry, practitioner associations, and veterinary colleges have all concluded that literally millions of dogs and cats are not in compliance with proper preventive/wellness care and therapy of medical problems. 

Webster’s Definition of “Compliance” =“the act or process of complying to a desire, demand, or proposal”.  Webster’s Definition of “Complying” = “adapting one’s actions to another’s wishes”.

 Although anecdotal phone calls and testimonials indicated the placing of the pet’s color photograph on the traditional postcard reminders was getting an increased response rate in the number of annual wellness/revaccination services performed, VetsCene, Inc. decided to conduct this field study to determine if any increased response rate could be quantified in a group of four (4) clinics which had kept monthly response rates to reminders data for a period of years prior to going on the VetsCene, Inc. Compliance Program.

Methods and Materials

Four practices, having nearly 100% of their patient’s color photographs recorded in their practice management software participated in this study.  These practices all employed practice managers who had kept monthly data measuring the annual wellness/vaccination response rate to annual wellness/revaccination postcard reminders for at least one full year or more prior to starting the VetsCene, Inc. Compliance Program.

Each of the four practices had a similar routine of mailing out the standard annual wellness/vaccination reminder postcards on a weekly basis.  Reminders were sent out from 14 days to 28 days prior to the week in which the patient was due for this health event depending upon the preference of each clinic.  Prior to initiation of this field study, each practice agreed to use the VetsCene, Inc. postcard reminder system which placed the pet’s color photograph on the reminder postcard.  Three of the four participating clinics recorded data weekly for 18 weeks beginning the last week of November, 2005 through the last week of March, 2006.  The fourth clinic started on the VetScene Compliance Program later and recorded data weekly for 13 weeks beginning the first week of January, 2006 through the last week of March, 2006.  Specifically, reminders were sent out 4 weeks, 2 weeks, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks prior to the week of the due dates for Clinics A, B, C, and D, respectively.  Clinics A, B, and C sent out second reminders to any no shows at 1 week prior, 1 week after, and 4 weeks after the due dates, respectively.  Clinic D did not send out any second reminders. 

For the next 60 days following the mailing of the initial reminder postcards containing the pet’s color photograph, each practice recorded the annual wellness/vaccination response rates for the clients mailed these reminder postcards.  These response rates were compared in each clinic with the response rates the same month, but previous year. 

Results and The Bottom Line

The average number of VetsCene, Inc. reminders sent out each week per clinic was 58 with a range of 35 to 71.  The average number of clinic annual wellness/vaccination health events completed for those clients sent the reminders within 60 days of the due date each week per clinic was 33 with a range of 24 to 43.  This is an average response rate (compliance rate) of 56.9%.  The test clinic’s average compliance rate in the year prior to adopting the VetsCene, Inc. Compliance Program and using the VetsCene, Inc. reminders with the pet’s color photograph was 38% with a range of 35% to 45%.  The national average response rate to postcard reminders has been reported in the 35% to 40% range.  This is an average improvement of 49.7% in the compliance percentage rate over previous year and a 42.3% to 62.6% improvement over the nationally reported average compliance percentage range.

The results of this field study were the following:

·        In this study, all practices experienced an increase in annual wellness/vaccination response rates when using the VetsCene, Inc. postcards containing the pet’s color photograph when compared with the same month/previous year.

·        In this study, the VetsCene, Inc. reminder cards with the pet’s color photograph improved the average annual wellness/vaccination response rates ranging from 13 percentage points to 23 percentage points.  Clinics using VetsCene, Inc. reminder cards with the pet’s color photograph had from 36% to 57% improvements in their annual wellness/vaccination compliance rates.   

·        If an average wellness/revaccination service results in additional $40-$100 gross revenue to the practice and this studies’ findings indicated these clinics had an additional 730 annual/vaccination services, then the added revenue would be equal from $7350 to $18,250 per clinic in just 3-4 months. 

·        Placing the pet’s color photograph on the standard reminder postcard did improve the annual wellness/vaccination response rate in these four participating practices.  This improvement in annual wellness/vaccination response rate increased gross revenue in each practice and more than covered the cost of the VetsCene, Inc. Compliance Program and reminders with the pet’s color photograph.

Raw Data