2010 Practice Management Workshop 

Karen Felsted E.CPA, MS, DVM, CVPM

Remaining Financially Successful in a Challenging Economic Environment
Staying profitable in a good economic climate is not easy but during a recession it’s downright difficult.  Leaving aside the recession,  the dramatic increases in veterinary fees over the past ten years are impacting the number of pet owners seeking veterinary care and what they are willing to spend.  To remain financially viable, practice owners, managers and staff must focus on the activities that will have the most financial impact as well as allow them to continue to offer good patient care. 

The Most Common Management Mistakes 
Everything in the practice can be managed and measured but just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.  Effective management means focusing on the areas which will give you the most return in patient care, client service and money for your investment of time and other resources.

Is Your Practice a Profitable One? 
Practice profitability drives cash flow, practice value and the ability to provide good quality pet care.  And yet, it is one of the least understood of the financial metrics.  This session will help you understand what practice profitability is, how to calculate it and how to revive it if needed.

Benchmarking:  What Data Should You Be Tracking and Who/What do You Compare Yourself To?
Now more than ever, a business must understand and regularly measure the metrics that define success.  Both internal and external benchmarking are critical to future growth and prosperity.

Don’t Make These Cost Control Mistakes 
Controlling costs is critical to improving productivity and efficiency in your practice.  Many practices don't do this well and yet it's easy to avoid common mistakes and improve your practice's cash flow and profitability.

Dr. Karen Felsted received a degree in marketing from the University of Texas at Austin. She spent the next twelve years in accounting and business management, including 6 years with Ernst & Young. During this time she earned both her CPA and an MS degree in Management and Administrative Science from the University of Texas at Dallas.

In 1996 Dr. Felsted graduated magna cum laude from the veterinary college at Texas A & M University and practiced both small animal and emergency medicine for three years. For the last ten years she has provided financial and operational consulting services to veterinarians, most recently with Brakke Consulting and Gatto McFerson CPAs.

Dr. Felsted joined the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues as Chief Executive Officer in June 2008. She has written an extensive number of articles for a wide range of veterinary publications and speaks regularly at national and international veterinary meetings. She is a founding director and current member of VetPartners, a past member of the Veterinary Economics’ Editorial Advisory Board, and the current treasurer for the CATalyst Council.