Persuading clients to buy coverage can pay off for a veterinary practice

Let Pet Health Insurance Work for the Practice.

Over 5,000 companies, including some of North America’s top employers, offer pet health insurance as an employee benefit. These companies offer this as a benefit to attract top talent, who think of their pets as a part of the family. Pet health insurance can not only be a recruitment tool to attract and keep talented staff members, but it can also be used to attract and keep new clients.

Here are 10 easy things that hospital owners can do to harness the power of pet insurance for the good of the practice:

  1. Post signs to alert clients that you accept pet insurance.
  2. When clients check in, ask if they have pet insurance. Note the insurance company and policy number in the patient’s record.
  3. When insured clients check out, ask if they’d like an extra copy of the invoice to send to their insurance company.
  4. If a client has pet insurance and you need to recommend diagnostics or treatment for a new condition, explain that the services might be covered by her insurance plan and that she should check with her provider. (Or offer to check for her.) This makes for an easier “yes” to necessary care, and it shows that you’re trying to help.
  5. When clients have insurance claims, consider submitting the forms for them.
  6. Share stories with the veterinary team about pets that did or didn’t have insurance so that your employees, in turn, can educate clients.
  7. Identify the one or two insurance companies you are most comfortable working with. Share this information with your team and recommend the companies to clients.
  8. If you don’t offer wellness plans, suggest to owners of certain cat or dog breeds that it might be smart to purchase an insurance policy offering an embedded wellness plan.
  9. Put pet insurance brochures into new puppy and new kitten kits and in the kits of clients with newly adopted pets.
  10. Consider offering pet insurance as an employee benefit to attract and keep good employees.

Learn more here.