Increasing the efficiency of the veterinary clinic by delegating diagnostic tasks to veterinary nurses.

Abstract

Introduction – It has been shown in human healthcare that delegating tasks to nursing staff increases the efficiency due to improving patient flow, patient care and the overall work environment. The objective of this study is to examine whether this method can improve the efficiency of a veterinary clinic by limiting waiting time for the pet owner and consult duration by delegating the additional diagnostics to the veterinary nurse. Method and Materials – Six veterinary clinics in the Netherlands from AniCura were visited during four weeks. For each consult with additional diagnostics, several variables were recorded: gender and work experience of the veterinarian, work experience of the veterinary nurse, consult duration, waiting time for the pet owner, who handled the additional diagnostics, the type of diagnostics, the moment the results were communicated and general information from each clinic (ex. clinic size and years in business). The results were analyzed in SPSS. Results – The consult duration was not significantly shorter when the veterinary nurse handled the diagnostics. A regression analysis of all the measured variables during consults showed that the gender of the veterinarian (p=0,035) and the clinic size (p=0,043) were significant predictors of the consult duration. The waiting time was significantly shorter when the veterinary nurse handled the diagnostics (p=0,002). A regression analysis of all the measured variables during consults showed that the handler of the additional diagnostics (p=0,019), the type of diagnostics (p=0,017) and the location (p=0,023) were significant predictors of the waiting time. Conclusion – This study has shown that delegating the additional diagnostics to the veterinary nurses during consults, significantly decreases the waiting time for the pet owner. However, there are still factors that are unclear and need to be further researched.