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Start an animal identification program that works — and keeps working Consistent
and Immediate "We make a show of it," That's the kind of approach that earned Sharon the "Practice Manager of the Year Award" from Veterinary Economics, Firstline and the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association. Read all about how she does it by clicking here. Prepare the day before The system works for animal hospitals, kennels, or groomers. Prepare TabBand collars the day before scheduled appointments, clipping one to each customer sheet. That way there's no delay during the morning rush. Take the animal's permanent collar off and hand it to the owner so it won't get lost. Write the name of the owner on the collar, along with other information you find helpful, such as the procedure or the name of the animal. Since TabBand Max collars come in seven colors (including white), you can code animals for different purposes — say, green for neutering or red for boarding. Kennels and breeders often mark females with pink and males with blue. Choosing length TabBand Max collars come in 10- and 20-inch lengths. You can stock both sizes or, to keep things simple, just use the 20-inchers, since they can be trimmed to fit. If you have a big, shaggy dog to mark, it’s easy to fasten two bands together. Getting the staff to buy in If you're just beginning to use TabBand collars, it's essential to have the staff understand why you're doing it. It's too easy to let things slide back to the old way of doing things.
Consultant
Dr. David Goodnight suggests, "Have the doctor schedule a staff meeting
and communicate and discuss [TabBand] use as a real need and benefit to
the pet and clients." If everyone buys into it, the chances are better that
the system will succeed.
Inspection plan
"There is an adage that says, 'don't expect what you do not inspect,'"
writes consultant Mark Opperman. "I was an administrator for a 14-doctor,
52-employee hospital. We required all patients to have an ID band on them.
Guess what I did!"
After a while, everyone will be watching for TabBands and the
system will become a good habit.
Making mistakes
TabBands can help you avoid some terrible mistakes. Face it, we're not
perfect. As Dr. Larry Neiman put it brutally, "I wouldn't operate without
them. Somebody is going to screw up."
That's why organizations such as the American Animal Hospital Association
(AAHA) and the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA) Professional
Liability Insurance Trust call for positive animal identification. As
AAHA’s Deborah Gadomski says, ID bands are "an easy way" to
meet that requirement.
Dr. Goodnight says he thinks any animal separated from its owner needs
a band, "even if dropped off for an hour or less."
Consider the risk
TabBand has been in business since 1962, so you can imagine how many
conversations we've had with veterinarians and other animal professionals.
We meet hundreds at every conference we attend and we try to ask questions
and listen as much as we explain our products.
Some of those conversations are burned into our memories. We'll never
forget the look in the eyes of an owner whose clinic slipped up and returned
nearly identical dogs to the wrong owners. "I called and said
don't even open the door! Don't let it out!" Then she jumped
in her car. "I rushed over, my heart was racing!"
Getting the message
That clinic is using TabBands today, but believe it or not some people
just don't get the message. A technician stopped to talk with us at the
Western Veterinary Conference, shaking her head in disgust. "There
was a huge scene in the waiting room just last week. Two people said they
had the wrong cat! But will anybody do anything? Will they use TabBands?
Nope! What’ll it take?!!"
Mark Opperman is afraid he knows the answer. "Unfortunately, it might
take one mistake to realize how important ID bands are."
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The TabBand
reassures clients that you won't make a mistake, tells them their pet
is in good hands.