Q1 and Q2 started off with a bang addressing old and new issues commanding attention from the pet healthcare industry, Veterinary professionals, and Veterinary educators. This month’s column will catch readers up on three issues under the spotlight, with two of the three barely getting started.
Colorado voters sent a message last November in passing a ballot measure establishing a law in Colorado allowing for the licensing and practice of Veterinary Professional Associates, known colloquially as VPAs. This new mid-level professional will function much like PAs have operated for over 60 years in human healthcare. VPAs will be supervised by licensed veterinarians under the Colorado Veterinary Practice Act and provide basic services currently provided only by veterinarians.
Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine are the initial programs training future VPAs prior to licensure in Colorado. The AVMA and Colorado VMA spent handsomely (over $2 million) to defeat the measure, and their legislative champion, Representative McCormick, continued efforts in the 2025 Colorado legislature to water down the ballot measure, and by all accounts, stop the VPA initiative in its tracks. But these efforts have been dialed back considerably. Colorado legislators appear to understand the implications of trying to overturn or take the teeth out of a law passed by Colorado consumers. The Colorado Board of Veterinary Medicine continues in its role of reviewing and adopting regulations to implement the law and are supported by a governor determined to see the VPA initiative succeed and expand access to care in Colorado. This process will play out for the balance of 2025.
The AVMA COE accredits existing Veterinary schools and the 8-10 new programs seeking to launch Veterinary programs across the United States. The data and debate over the scope of the veterinarian and Veterinary technician shortage looms large over the AVMA’s handling of these accreditations. The AVMA has challenged the idea of a shortage for the past two years despite the experience of practices on the ground in rural, suburban, and urban America. Former Florida Dean and combined Economics PhD/DVM, Dr. James Lloyd has led in developing the data underpinning the shortages expected to extend 10-15 years beyond today’s market. AVMA has partnered with Brakke Consulting to challenge these assumptions, but produced no equivalent data.
The AVMA COE now is imposing a regulation limiting the ability of Veterinary colleges to deploy virtual technologies that are working throughout higher education. The AVMA COE will limit the use of virtual technologies (distance education) from 50% to 15% of the curriculum, notwithstanding shortages of Veterinary faculty and the direct impact on student tuition to attempt to cover the costs of schools in trying to comply. Schools have not welcomed this news, so the issue will not go away, fueled in part by a Department of Education urging accreditors to lower costs and adopt technologies that are proven to work. Like the VPA issue, stay tuned to see how this unfolds.
Finally, PetSmart Charities teamed up with Gallup to produce a massive new survey documenting how American pet owners are dealing with the costs of Veterinary services as they struggle in many cases to provide care for their dogs and cats (https://petsmartcharities.org/our-stories/community-impact/52-of-u-s-pet-owners-have-skipped-or-declined-recommended-Veterinary-care). Pet owners of all incomes are challenged right now, especially at low-income levels.
What is the policy issue or dynamic brought into view by the PetSmart Charities/Gallup data? Americans want to provide care for their pets, but the price of care is a real-world barrier (fueled by shortages and the laws of supply and demand, per Dr. Lloyd), and they are not being offered alternatives or payment mechanisms to match their budgets. The policy issue is how a Veterinary practice acts (intentionally or otherwise) to enforce a standard of care that may not fit all situations or the financial capacity of all pet owners.
Yet veterinarians are not aware of options to provide a range of services that fall within the spectrum of care and may not meet a gold standard of care. Organizations and Veterinary schools, in particular the Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine, are grappling with this issue. Policy choices will soon end up in the laps of state Veterinary medical boards and, ultimately, state legislatures that are responsible for Veterinary practice acts. This issue is in its infancy, but the PetSmart Charities/Gallup data raises the urgency of finding solutions that provide flexible options for veterinarians and pet owners.