8 FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
view from AAHA
AAHA accreditation… a bargain at twice the price! By Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, DAVBP, and Debbie Gadomski, RVT
Myth buster #1: It’s expensive to be AAHA-accredited! We’ve had people tell us that it costs
over $10,000 to become accredited. The actual cost of general accreditation for an entire practice team is $920. Following the initial evaluation and
Dispelling
common myths about AAHA’s costs and benefits
2-year evaluation, practices are re-evalu- ated every 3 years; you pay nothing out of pocket at that time because AAHA “escrows” $200 per year from your annual dues as an accredited practice member. So, after 3 years, we have accumu- lated $600, which is then applied against the cost of having one of our excellent practice consultants come out to your practice for the reaccreditation visit. Think about that for a second. We
have highly trained credentialed consul- tants who are Certified Veterinary Tech- nicians (CVTs) and/or Certified Veteri- nary Practice Managers (CVPMs), with a wealth of knowledge to share, coming to your practice for a good part of a day. These are full-time AAHA employees with salaries and benefits, who have large regions of the United States and Canada to cover, and each one of them visits hundreds of practices each year. This means that unless you happen
to live in their neighborhood (which rarely happens), they are driving or fly- ing in order to visit your practice. We try to group visits together geographically to ensure each trip is cost-efficient, but we need to cover expenses related to travel, including airline tickets, car rental, gas, hotel and meals. All that for $600— you’re right, we must be crazy. Remember, AAHA is the only veterinary association that recognizes the impor- tance of the entire practice team. That means if your hospital belongs, all of your staff—from the assistants to the Certified
Veterinary Technicians to the client service reps to the practice managers and adminis- trators—are members of AAHA! And, if that’s not enough explanation, try putting a price tag on the value of all of AAHA’s benefits, if someone were to take full advantage of them, as shown in the table (see page 72). “We have changed our credit card
processor a few times, and usually we expect some fairly significant glitches, either with installation, use of the new or reprogrammed equipment, or staff training. Knowing that AAHA mem- bers (we) would benefit by utilizing Continued on page 72
Additional accredited member benefits: • Accreditation Awareness Campaign to promote accreditation to pet owners, including commercials on Animal Planet that have been viewed 211.2 million times
• Ability to use the AAHA logo in promoting your practice • AAHA-accredited printed directory • Access to accredited practice lounge at yearly conference • Invitation to accredited practice breakfast at yearly conference • Online accredited practice directory* • Accredited hospital locator on
Healthypet.com,
WebVet.com and
Pets911.com • Free externship directory access on AAHA Career Center • Access to AAHA online print shop • Discounts through Lands End on AAHA logo wear • Access to Trends Today online • Marketing webinars • Online resources available only in the accredited member area of
aahanet.org •
Healthypet.com redesign, which focuses on accreditation and promotes accredited hospitals to pet owners visiting the site—4.5 million visits since January 2010
• Referrals from our Member Service Center when pet owners call in for advice on choosing a veterinarian
* Surveys show that even nonaccredited members refer their clients to AAHA-accredited practices when they relocate!
Trends magazine, September 2011
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