Appendix B

Survey of Companion-Animal Practice Owners

The participants for the Companion-Animal Practice Owners Survey were selected from the 2008 membership directory of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The membership of the AVMA does not include all practicing veterinarians, but AVMA estimates that 90 percent of the veterinarians are members, since an advantage of membership is the insurance AVMA provides. There are 17,886 regular or honorary members who identify themselves as owners of a veterinary practice that is either companion-animal-predominant (over 50% companion-animals) or exclusive (over 90% companion-animals). Since the survey was to be conducted over the internet, the sample frame was reduced to 10,197 members with e-mail addresses. Also, in compiling the directory, the AVMA gives members the option of not having their information given to another party for advertising or other purposes, and in the construction of the subpopulation for the survey these individuals were not included. This reduced the pool to 5,651 members. This was too large a group to survey, so the subpopulation was stratified by gender, age group, and location (state and urban or rural). The stratification was done by determining the percentage of members from the 5,651 pool in each of the stratification variables, and selecting about 10% of the total pool. This resulted in a survey sample of 596 members. An e-mail letter was sent to each person in the sample asking them to go to a website where they could complete the questionnaire. There were several follow-up e-mails sent to members who did not respond to the survey: an additional e-mail from the National Research Council, a letter from the AVMA president and e-mails from the Executive Directors of the State Veterinary Medical Associations. With these efforts to increase the response rate there were 286 completed questionnaires after removing duplicate responses from the same practice and responses where only a few questions were completed. The data from the survey are available to researchers after names and demographic identifiers are removed.

This survey is being conducted by the National Research Council, the operational component of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy

of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, to examine various aspects of the veterinary medical profession. The study will explore historical changes in the size and characteristics of the veterinary workforce; assess the demographics and adequacy of the current supply of veterinarians in different occupational categories and sectors of the economy; and identify incentives, disincentives, and other factors that are likely to affect the numbers of veterinarians seeking jobs in different sectors in the future. The study will also examine trends affecting the kinds of jobs available to veterinarians and assess future demand for veterinary expertise in existing and new employment sectors. The study will examine the current and future capacity of universities and colleges to provide sufficient numbers of adequately trained veterinarians and identify training needs relative to the demand for specific expertise. Data on past trends and the current status of the workforce are not available from national databases. To gather the necessary data the Committee for the study is conducting surveys in various sectors. The questions in this survey are designed to collect information on the employment of veterinarians in the companion-animal practice sector.

Responding to this questionnaire is very important, since it is being sent to only a sample of companion-animal practice owners and having a good response rate will provide information about the entire population.

By completing this questionnaire, you are providing information that will: 1) help the NRC identify the characteristics of the veterinary workforce; 2) enable the NRC to analyze trends in the composition of the workforce; 3) will provide data that will inform the profession and educational institutions on the status of the veterinary workforce.

Your participation is voluntary. You may refuse to answer any question or discontinue participation at any point. There is no risk to you or your practice in responding to this questionnaire. The data will be reported in an aggregate form and your identity will be known to only the National Research Council. Your willingness to provide the answers to the questions indicates your informed consent to participate in this study.

1) The following demographic information will assist us in analyzing responses to the survey. You are not required to provide this information, but it will let us know who has responded and you should not receive follow up reminders.

2) How many animal clinics do you own or have a share in (excluding partial ownership of an emergency clinic)?

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For the clinics identified in Question #2, provide the following information for the 5 largest in terms of the number of veterinarian pet visits per week and if you operate more than 5 clinics, provide the average of the information for the additional clinics in the last row.

A “veterinarian office call” is defined as each time a pet is seen by a veterinarian, whether that visit results in the pet being admitted to the hospital or not. Please do not include any visits seen by specialists other than those who are ABVP certified.

3) On average, how many veterinarian office calls are there per week in each clinic?

4) How many veterinarians staff your clinics? Count veterinarians that work in multiple clinics multiple times.

5) How many veterinarian FTE’s (full-time-equivalent) does it take to see the cases in the clinic? In other words, the number of veterinarians working full time who see that many cases indicated above. For example, if two veterinarians are working full time and one is working halftime to see the patients indicated, the number is 2.5.

6) On average, how many technician office calls are done per week? A "technician office call" is defined as each time a pet is seen by a technician only.

7) What is the average time period, in minutes, scheduled for each office visit? Please indicate the entire time scheduled, including the time spent with a technician or assistant before or after the veterinarian.

8) What is the annual gross revenue for these clinics?

9) How many of the veterinarians in your employ work in one or in multiple clinics?

10) How many of the veterinary technicians in your employ work in one or in multiple clinics?

Please fill in the following tables with the total number of staff currently working in all the clinics you own (current). Please indicate how many additional personnel you plan to hire this year (2008). Please estimate the number you will hire in subsequent years.

11) Veterinarians

12) Registered Technicians

13) Veterinary Assistants (Include animal care assistants only, not caretakers or others who take care of facilities etc.)

14) Office Staff

15) If you hire a veterinarian within the next year, how much do you expect to pay in annual compensation (not including benefits)?

16) For a veterinarian you would hire within the next year, what would you consider paying as a signing bonus?