How AAHA accreditation can help practices meet their clients’ needs

Around two-thirds of American homes include a pet, and, increasingly, those pets are considered family.

AAHA’s recent consumer research, conducted by Trone Research + Consulting in spring 2024, shows that these pet parents care deeply about providing their pets with high quality veterinary care, but they don’t necessarily have a solid understanding of how to find or identify practices providing the kind of care they seek. It also shows that the general public has little understanding of how the veterinary profession actually works, with some respondents conflating practice accreditation with veterinary licenses.

Using this study to boost your business

To attract new clients and inspire loyalty in their current clients, AAHA-accredited practices (and those considering accreditation) need to know three things:

• What do pet parents value most in a veterinary practice?
• How does AAHA accreditation help your practice meet your clients’ needs?
• How can your practice better communicate the link between AAHA accreditation and your commitment to providing patients and clients with the care and experience they desire?

The data gathered from this survey provided us with key insights into all of the above.

But before we dive into the answers to those questions, it’s important to make sure we understand the current landscape—including some of the common misconceptions pet parents have regarding the veterinary profession.

Priorities and misconceptions

The 2024 survey of over 2,300 pet owners asked them what they cared most about providing their pets. High-quality veterinary care was the number one priority, beating out high-quality food, exercise/play, praise/attention, and more.

The trouble is, these pet owners didn’t have a quantifiable way to find or assess veterinary practices, relying on word of mouth to find the right veterinary care for their beloved pets. And, even when they’ve found a practice they like, their method of determining whether their pet is receiving high-quality care largely comes down to how the experience feels.

In this same survey, many pet owners believed that 50% of veterinary hospitals were accredited; the actual figure in the United States is closer to 15%. Some indicated a belief that accreditation was a result of a “pay to play” system, while others assumed accreditation was mandatory (along the lines of human medicine), tied to the veterinarian’s license, or connected to higher costs.

What pet parents want

High-quality vet care is top of mind for pet owners, but what, exactly, does that look like to them? According to the survey, the most important attributes when selecting a veterinary hospital were:

• Demonstrates compassion
• Provides information I need
• Enables me to see a vet when needed
• Strives for excellence in healthcare
• Has facilities that are clean, functional, and well-laid out

These consumers consider word of mouth the most trusted source of information when they’re looking for a new veterinary practice. Local veterinary hospitals and veterinary professional organizations round out the top three, but the fact that word of mouth ranks so highly can’t be ignored. If a large percentage of potential new clients are basing their decision on what their friends and family say, it’s vital that those friends and family who are already coming to your practice a) feel that you’re meeting their needs—especially those listed above—and b) are satisfied enough to share their positive experiences with others. In other words, every interaction your team has with a client could truly have an impact on whether that client tells their friends to come see you or recommends shopping around.

Some of these desires, such as being provided necessary information, being able to see a veterinarian when needed, and clean facilities, are tangible.

For instance, Mrs. Jones knows, without a doubt, whether she got a timely appointment for her cat, Snowball, when she called. She knows whether she received the information she needed or if her questions were answered. And, while she might not have full insight into how well your practice was laid out, she’d be able to tell whether it was clean and functional based on how she got around during her visit. Did she feel comfortable sitting on the floor and playing with Snowball in the exam room? Was she having to shield Snowball from a row of barking dogs as she checked out?

But the others—demonstrating compassion and striving for excellence in healthcare—may be a little harder for a pet parent to measure.

Those factors are more about how the client feels during their visit, and feelings are not strictly based on patient outcomes. That’s why communication (by all members of the veterinary team) is vitally important.

Language and listening

Some of that simply comes down to language and listening.

Many clients come in with a goal, or at least an idea, of what they want you to do, says Melissa Magnuson, DVM, owner of Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital, which was named the 2024 AAHA Accredited Practice of the Year. “A lot of veterinarians miss the mark when they don’t ask the client what they want,” she says. “They want to do everything instead of focusing on what the owner wants to focus on, at least to start. But first and foremost, we need to take care of the goals of the clients. Then they trust you.”

Fostering trust

By making her conversations about the pet and the benefits that her services provide to that animal, Magnuson finds she’s generally able to help clients understand—and comply with—her recommendations. “Validate what they’re saying and experiencing,” she suggests.

For example, say a client tells her their dog is drinking water all night long and it’s driving them up the wall. “What I think about is, ‘Oh gosh, the kidneys must not be working, or it has Cushing’s disease, or it has another hormonal problem,” Magnuson says. She immediately starts thinking through what diagnostics she needs to run, what the possibilities are, and what any of those might mean for this dog and client. But most clients don’t make those connections—they just want to solve the problem that they’re noticing. So, until Magnuson has more information, she keeps her communication to the client simple and straightforward, acknowledging their goal and offering a plan.

“I’ll say, ‘I would really like to fix this for you because I know it’s driving you crazy.’ That validates their concern,” she says. “Then, I’ll say, ‘If we can do these tests, I might be able to help Fifi not drink all night so you can get some sleep.’”

Once she does have the information she needs, she works to package it in a way that doesn’t feel like “noise” to the client. “I connect with the client at their level, right where they’re at,” she says. Removing stigma and shame from your client conversations and, instead, approaching them in a more consultative fashion, is a key to providing exceptional customer service, increasing client retention, and earning a reputation as a caring practice within your community.

How accreditation helps

Essentially, the things that matter most to clients when it comes to choosing a veterinary hospital come down to wanting to work with a team that provides quality care and that sees their pet as an individual with unique needs.

And these needs tie in nicely with many of the standards that AAHA-accredited hospitals must meet.

Quality care standards

• Demonstrates compassion:
  • PC03.1: The practice utilizes individualized preventive healthcare recommendations based on lifestyle and risk assessment.
• See a vet when I need one
  • CD01.1: The practice utilizes a documented training program to effectively communicate with clients, including:
  • EM02: Emergency services provide for appropriate treatment of routinely seen emergencies or conditions within a reasonable time.
• Facilities are clean and well-laid out
  • MA20: Client and patient areas of the practice are neat, clean, and well organized.
  • HM22: Facility grounds are neat, clean, attractive, and safe.
  • HM03: Furnishings are properly maintained and conveniently arranged in order to be pleasing to the client and conducive to the patient’s comfort.

Standards tied to an individualized approach that minimizes stress for pets

• Minimizes patient stress
  • MA26: Practice team members demonstrate humane care of animals
• Strives for excellence in client services and healthcare
  • CS09: Client feedback is actively solicited. Such feedback might include focus groups, client surveys and evaluations, and client input discussed during client service meetings.
  • CS10.2: Team meetings are conducted on a monthly basis, or more frequently, when issues arise such as client complaints, client’s perception of value, patient care or when practice team members identify opportunities for improvement.
• Acknowledges unique needs of clients and community
  • CS08.1: The practice evaluates, at least annually, how its services and hours match client and community needs.

Simple, not easy

AAHA’s standards, which cover patient care, facilities, services, and clinical protocols, are developed by experts and regularly reevaluated and updated as deemed appropriate. Therefore, accredited practices can trust that their journey toward accreditation will guide them toward practicing high quality medicine.

This is precisely why Magnuson wanted to become accredited when she opened her first practice back in 2005.

“I have closed every Wednesday from 12:00 until 2:00 since the very beginning,” she says, “and the reason we’ve closed from 12:00 until 2:00 was to work on AAHA accreditation.”

Worth the work

By working to ensure their practice met the necessary standards, Magnuson said she and her team could focus on working with clients and patients, knowing that, by following those standards, they were by default practicing great medicine.

That simplified their journey, but it wasn’t easy. Even with the team splitting up sections of the assessment based on their knowledge and interest, then bringing questions to the full group each Wednesday, it still took them a solid two years to achieve accreditation.

But it was well worth the effort, because, in addition to the skills and knowledge they gained during the process and the fact that it allowed them to be confident that they were practicing excellent medicine, the experience offered an additional benefit, too. “It was very collaborative from the beginning,” Magnuson said.  “That’s how my team became so involved in AAHA—and many of those people stayed with me for a very long time. I involved the entire team, and when you involve the entire team, they feel empowered, like their gifts matter. And they really did.”

Why marketing matters

Simply sharing your accredited status with current and potential clients is unlikely to have the effect you want. In order to make your marketing efforts count, there must be an element of education regarding your accreditation.

After all, you know what standards you’ve had to meet to earn your accreditation—and you also know what pet parents want. But for your accreditation to be meaningful to consumers, you need to help them understand why your AAHA-accreditation is a quantifiable indication of your commitment to meeting their needs.

Remember, most pet owners don’t even realize a voluntary third-party validation exists in veterinary medicine, so if you want that sticker on your door to mean something to them, you must help them learn how it’s tied to the care they want for their pets.

A cultural shift

Times have changed, and marketing that focuses solely on a practice being elite is unlikely to resonate strongly with pet parents. Yes, they want quality care, but today, that quality isn’t only about whether the hospital practices modern medicine, but about how the team is trained to meet the unique needs of each pet (and family) walking through the door.

Pet parents want to know that their pet matters to the veterinary team, just as they want to be able to trust that the team will provide the best care possible for that pet.

Shifting your messaging to share your commitment to the wellbeing of each patient is key. Taking steps to reduce stress and increase comfort goes a long way with today’s pet parents, and involving those pet parents in decisions around their pet’s care is an excellent way to ensure they understand that you’re not only striving for excellence in healthcare for their pet, but that you’re taking their family’s needs into account when doing so.

Tips and tools

From there, taking the time to share the fact that your hospital is AAHA-accredited—and that being accredited means you adhere to standards that make their pet’s wellbeing a top priority—will help these consumers understand why accreditation matters.

But it’s not only about in-person communication. There are plenty of opportunities to market this connection and commitment outside the exam room, such as:

• On-hold telephone messages
• Stories in newsletters or emails
• Website language
• Accreditation badge on website
• Language on invoices or receipts
• Social media posts
• Signage and brochures in your waiting room
• Hang exam room posters that translate care from the pet’s point-of-view
• Referral bonus
• Badges or patches on staff scrubs
• Branded AAHA consumables
• Open-house invitations to celebrate annual accreditation renewal
• Create an “AAHA Journey” photo wall showing your team through the accreditation process
• Send out a press release and create a celebratory post for your social media each time your practice renews accreditation to celebrate your team’s achievement

(For a complete list of ideas and resources, AAHA members can log into the Publicity Toolbox.)

Conclusion

Understanding what it is that clients truly want in a veterinary practice (and being aware of the common misconceptions the general public has about the veterinary profession) is the first step toward meeting their needs.

AAHA-accredited hospitals have a head start on meeting those needs, simply by adhering to the standards of accreditation. But to make that clear to clients, practices must shift their messaging to focus on their commitment to providing each pet they see with personalized care—and share how their AAHA accreditation helps them to do that every step of the way.

To learn more, be sure to catch our “What pet parents really want” webinar on April 9 (or on-demand after the fact).

Photo credit: © SeventyFour via iStock/Getty Images Plus

Disclaimer: Trends content is meant to inform, educate, and inspire by providing an array of diverse viewpoints. Any content published should not be viewed as an official stance, position, or endorsement by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) or its Board of Directors.