Although they may not seem like a natural fit, remote or work-from-home (WFH) team members can be an enormous asset to the modern veterinary practice. Whether your WFH team members enjoy a hybrid work arrangement or are exclusively remote, here are seven ways to fully use their talents and ensure they remain engaged and effective veterinary team members.

#1: Marketing and social media

Practice marketing is essential for business growth, but when more pressing hospital matters arise—such as extremely sick pets, an overwhelmed call center, or a disgruntled client—marketing is quickly pushed aside. If you’ve ever tried to design a marketing campaign, or simple, regular posts for your hospital’s social platforms, you know that producing consistent content, building connections, and generating real results is not easy.

The low or no-distraction WFH environment is ideal for these skilled, time-intensive tasks. Marketing-savvy team members can design and implement marketing strategies, build networks with other pet-minded community businesses, learn and utilize SEO, engage virtually with current and prospective clients, and establish or grow your practice’s online and in-person presence.     

#2: Creating client education materials

Client education improves pet health, strengthens the pet-owner bond, and establishes your practice as a knowledgeable and generous resource for pet-related information. But, creating branded content specific to your practice isn’t exactly easy.

Remote team members can build your clinic’s client education library by writing topical blog posts for your website, maintaining an e-newsletter, creating downloadable pdfs or in-person handouts (e.g., post-operative care, dental discharge instructions, blood glucose monitoring), and making how-to videos on common pet care tasks, such as subcutaneous fluids, toothbrushing, body condition scoring, and insulin administration.

#3: Website updates and management

A tech-savvy team member who can update and manage your website is a huge advantage for your practice. Routinely updated websites perform better in search engine results, keep clients engaged and informed about new services, and convey to the reader that your veterinary practice is modern, current, and forward-thinking.

Website management is not a daily task and can easily be combined with other remote duties, such as marketing, social media management, or content generation.

#4: Follow up calls

Remote veterinary technicians or assistants can relieve in-clinic staff of time-consuming administrative duties such as following up phone calls, communicating lab results, or checking on pets with overdue services. Reassigning these tasks to a remote team member ensures that clients receive a focused inquiry about their pet’s health (i.e., no one is rushing to get off the phone), while the remote team member can ask and answer necessary questions with undivided, stress-free attention. The remote employee can also communicate 

via email, text, or a company communication platform (e.g., Slack), or request that the veterinarian contact the client.

#5: Appointment booking

Remote appointment scheduling relieves the in-person CSR team of an enormous burden, and provides a better experience for the pet and client. Setting up an automated call menu on your practice’s main line and diverting appointment requests to a remote team member allows for fast and efficient scheduling.

Remote team members can also manage online appointment requests by fielding submissions through the website and contacting clients by phone, text, or email.

#6: Chart auditing

Chart auditing may not be glamorous, but someone has to do it—and there’s no better place than a distraction-free space far away from the chaos of daily practice.

Routine auditing not only protects your practice during legal action, but also can identify missed or incorrect charges, incomplete patient notes, missing documents (e.g., anesthetic charts, consent forms), documentation errors, and productivity or team member performance changes. Licensed veterinary technicians can double-check dosing information and medication instructions to ensure accuracy. 

#7: Inventory management

If your inventory is connected to your practice management system, remote team members can regularly track item usage and anticipate supply needs. Rather than waiting until a designated clinic person can take a precious moment to sneak away and complete the week’s ordering, a remote team member can monitor supply levels, identify usage patterns, and place orders, including clients’ special orders, on a scheduled or as needed basis. With the benefit of time and the ability to focus, remote team members can also source new vendors, comparison-shop for costly products, and track down hard-to-find items. 

Although you may be thinking WTH—What The Heck (could they do for my practice)?—about the idea of WFH veterinary team members, this modern work style can add incredible value and efficiency to your practice. But, if you’re not quite ready for a satellite staff, turn to Rumpus Writing and Editing. Our expert—and remote!—writing team can deliver customized veterinary content for your website, social media, and blog. Contact us to schedule your consultation.