Improving Productivity vs. Expanding the Workforce

by | Oct 1, 2025 | Animal Health Industry - Views, Views

Productivity

Debate continues in the practice sector of the U.S. animal health industry over whether the ongoing scarcity in the Veterinary workforce should be addressed through improving productivity or by expanding the workforce. Unfortunately, the debate is generally framed in as an “either/or” situation rather than a “both/and,” which is perhaps more appropriate.

Without question, delivery of Veterinary medical services could become more efficient, implying an opportunity to increase productivity. In fact, inefficiency in Veterinary medicine was noted as problematic at least 25 years ago in the KPMG Megastudy.1 Depending on how you measure it, industry-wide efficiency in companion animal practice has actually increased by over 20% since that original call to action.2 Although more can be done, such improvement suggests that the current model is not necessarily broken – just slow to change.

But scarcity in the Veterinary workforce is an urgent problem. Scarcity and, more directly, the constrained availability of Veterinary services have predictably led to increasing prices in the companion animal services market, providing strong affirmation for the existence of an ongoing Veterinary workforce shortage.3 In turn, higher prices have resulted in a decrease in the number of visits sought by pet owners.4 Unfortunately, a growing proportion of pet-owning households is no longer able to fully access Veterinary care financially as prices continue to increase. The direct consequences for both animal welfare and human health and wellbeing3 are the foundation for the urgency.

The public has strongly confirmed the urgency of the shortage:

  • Voters approved creation of a Veterinary professional associate in Colorado.5
  • State legislatures have enabled a virtual VCPR via telemedicine in California, Florida, and Ohio.5
  • New, publicly funded Veterinary schools have been approved in Arizona, Texas, Utah, New Jersey, South Carolina, Maryland, and Arkansas. Veterinary medical enrollments have been expanded substantially at numerous other public institutions.

Further, data  from the American Pet Products Association indicate that fully one third of all pet-owning households can currently be considered “lost pet owners” when it comes to pet healthcare.6 This situation is only being exacerbated by rising prices and decreasing visits. Improved productivity/efficiency notwithstanding, successful solutions will require substantial expansion of the Veterinary workforce because of the sheer magnitude of this gap – one third of all pet-owning households.

Importantly, improving productivity and/or enhancing efficiency are difficult, complex processes that – even if successful – take a considerable amount of time.7,8 To explore potential improvements in efficiency within a given practice, it is first critical to review the mission, vision, core values, strategic priorities, and goals2 and clearly define the related target market.6,9 Within that specific context, important possibilities to consider include those mentioned in a previous column10:

  • Increased delegation of clinical roles and responsibilities to fully utilize non-Veterinary staff, including both classically trained Veterinary technicians/nurses and those with advanced clinical training (whether Veterinary technician specialists or Veterinary professional associates).
  • Expanded use of technology, such as EMRs, telemedicine, and AI.
  • Increased emphasis on – or even exclusive offering of – a narrow portfolio of Veterinary services, such as wellness, spay/neuter, dentals, or urgent care.
  • Offering a spectrum of options for Veterinary care, clearly recognizing that one size does not fit all.
  • Creating innovative alternatives for financing pet healthcare.

These potential steps should be evaluated – alone and in combination – not just for their ability to increase caseload or/and throughput, but for their ability to enhance economic efficiency, workflow efficiency, labor productivity, or/and capital productivity as they align with key elements of the strategy. As a bonus, each approach has the potential to substantially enhance access to care for underserved segments of the pet-owning community.

Notably, increasing delegation to non-Veterinary staff is a widely accepted priority as a pathway to improved productivity/efficiency. However, this approach assumes an adequate number of well-trained non-Veterinary staff is available, but research suggests a critical ongoing shortage of Veterinary nurses/technicians exists.11 As such, this specific component of the Veterinary workforce scarcity clearly needs to be included in discussions of workforce expansion.

Opportunities exist for improving productivity and efficiency in Veterinary practice across the industry, but changes will be incremental and it will take time. History confirms this is the case based on the slow rate of improvement since the KPMG Megastudy, which has not kept up with the increased demand for Veterinary medical services over the same time period.2 For this reason, and because the situation is indeed urgent, an expanded Veterinary workforce will be vital to complement efforts toward improved efficiency/productivity. And in this sense, the recommendation is not “either/or”; it is “both/and.”

Thankfully, both are well underway.

 

REFERENCES:

  1. Brown JP, Silverman JD. The current and future market for veterinarians and Veterinary medical services in the United States. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1999;215:161–183.
  2. Lloyd, J.W. Economic efficiency in Veterinary medicine. The Fountain Report, Antelligence, Jan. 13, 2023, 3 pp.
  3. Lloyd, J.W. The Veterinary market’s invisible hand. Today’s Veterinary Business, NAVC, Dec 1, 2024. (available at: https://todaysVeterinarybusiness.com/invisible-hand-viewpoint-1224/, accessed 09/30/25).
  4. Gilmartin, S. 2025 practice trends. Presentation at Veterinary Innovation Summit, September 4, 2025. Kansas City.
  5. Cushing, M. 2025 trends and innovations. Presentation at Veterinary Innovation Summit, September 4, 2025. Kansas City.
  6. Lloyd, J.W. Veterinary medicine and the “lost pet owners”. Animal Health News and Views, August 1, 2025. (available at: https://animalhealthnewsandviews.com/Veterinary-medicine-and-the-lost-pet-owners/, accessed 08/14/25).
  7. Neill, C. Efficiency 3.0: a broader lens on efficiency. Presentation at Veterinary Innovation Summit, September 5, 2025. Kansas City.
  8. Salois, M. Innovation isn’t enough: closing the productivity gap. Presentation at Veterinary Innovation Summit, September 5, 2025. Kansas City.
  9. Lloyd, J.W. Premiumization in pet products and services: winning strategy or lost opportunity? Animal Health News and Views, July 1, 2025. (available at: https://animalhealthnewsandviews.com/premiumization-in-pet-products-and-services-winning-strategy-or-lost-opportunity/, accessed 08/03/25).
  10. Lloyd, J.W. Uncertain economy? A thoughtful look ahead at the market for Veterinary services. Animal Health News and Views, June 1, 2025. (available at: https://animalhealthnewsandviews.com/uncertain-economy-a-thoughtful-look-ahead-at-the-market-for-Veterinary-services/, accessed 06/18/25).
  11. Lloyd, J.W. Pet healthcare in the US: Are there enough Veterinary nurses/technicians? Is there adequate training capacity? Mars Veterinary Health, Vancouver, WA, August 2021, 7 pp. (available at: https://marsVeterinary.com/tackling-the-Veterinary-professional-shortage/, accessed 09/28/25).