News

All practices again top veterinary practice 2022
All practices again top veterinary practice 2022 150 150 Sven Jan Arndt

In 2022 , all of our small animal practices will again be top veterinary practices according to Focus. We were particularly pleased that, like last year, our small animal center was again voted the best practice in Karlsruhe for dogs and cats by you, the patient owners:

Top veterinary practice 2022 Karlsruhe

But our practice in Karlsbad and Renchen also ranks in the upper echelons of their region:

Top Veterinary Practice 2022 Carlsbad
Top veterinary practice Renchen 2022

22,400 pet owners were surveyed on the topic of Top Veterinary Practice 2022 - 8,500 veterinary practices and clinics were evaluated. Of these, 1,419 veterinary practices were recommended and 109 were clinics.

Carlsbad was already a top veterinary practice in 2020 & 2021. Renchen and Karlsruhe were also added in 2021.

If you would also like to see our other practices, more information about the rating system, etc., please go directly to: https://focus-tierarzt.de/suche

doc4pets starts trainee program for veterinarians
doc4pets starts trainee program for veterinarians 150 150 Sven Jan Arndt
some of our veterinarians

What is probably the first and only trainee program for veterinarians in German small animal medicine starts this August at doc4pets.

It is now possible to start specialist veterinary training for small and pet animals at the same time and, at the same time, to receive business/legal training in order to later take over your own practice as managing director and potential partner.

While starting a career as a trainee has established itself as an attractive alternative for potential managers in the commercial and engineering sectors, a comparable concept does not yet exist for veterinarians. FTÄ Doreen Succow on the concept: “Based on the specialist veterinary training requirements of the LTK Baden-Württemberg, we have developed an ATF-recognized training concept for our future managers.” And Co-CEO Dipl.-Ök. Sven Jan Arndt, LL.M. adds: “In addition to medical know-how, our trainees are also given the business management skills to run their own practice. From practice for practice.”

Such a trainee program offers many advantages - in addition to insights into different specialist areas and branches, intensive and structured support is provided by the FTÄ Succow, head of training/best practice, who has been explicitly delegated for this purpose. This creates a network of future managing directors in the group who maintain a lively professional exchange - synergies at its best .

In addition, a 4-day full-time week, no 24-hour shifts, bonus programs based on BPT also allow enough freedom for a good work-life balance.

More information about the concept and how to apply: https://doc4pets.de/trainee

About Us:

doc4pets GmbH is an owner-managed group of five small animal practices in southwest Germany. With its innovative and disruptive approach to veterinary succession, it offers the veterinary doctor willing to leave a practice succession with qualified senior doctors from the doc4pets family. The latter in turn have the opportunity to participate in the acquired practice and later take over the majority. The focus is on the idea of ​​highly qualified freelancers, who are supported by the group in purchasing, marketing, accounting, etc. This means he can concentrate fully on his patients.

Due to its constant growth, doc4pets is always looking for veterinarians specializing in small animal medicine who would like to develop further in the future as an expert in a small animal center or as a successor in a veterinary practice. You can find out more about the concept at: https://www.doc4pets.de/trainee

Welcome Ms. FTÄ Dr. Elisabeth Huber
Welcome Ms. FTÄ Dr. Elisabeth Huber 150 150 Sven Jan Arndt
Dr.med.vet. Elisabeth Huber

We are particularly pleased, specialist veterinarian Dr.med.vet. To welcome Elisabeth Huber Senior physician Dr. Huber complements our team there, especially in the surgical area and will expand this significantly. Dr. Huber comes from colleague Dr. Grommelt from Kehl-Kork and previously worked, among other things, at the Hanauerland / Kehl animal clinic. If you would like to know more about the new range of surgical services, you can find further information here: https://tierarzt-renchen.de/chirurgie/

Authorization to continue training as a specialist veterinarian for small and pet animals
Authorization to continue training as a specialist veterinarian for small and pet animals 150 150 Sven Jan Arndt
Further training authorization for the FTA

doc4pets is pleased that its Arndt small animal center in Karlsruhe-Durlach has now received further training authorization to become a specialist veterinarian for small and pet animals under the direction of Ms. FTA Doreen Succow.

This makes it possible to offer young colleagues a further perspective on professional qualifications in our group. Further steps as part of our doc4pets academy are planned and will follow soon.

Welcome specialist veterinarian Doreen Succow
Welcome specialist veterinarian Doreen Succow 150 150 Sven Jan Arndt

We were able to recruit Ms. Doreen Succow to our group as Head of Training/Best Practice .

What does this mean? This means that the doc4pets group has its own representative exclusively for the further training of our veterinarians, who regularly carries out further training, documents best practices and defines them for all practices.

FTA Doreen Succow

more about Ms. Succow's impressive, international CV here .

This ensures the patient owner that the same high and usual quality of treatment is available at each of our locations.

For veterinarians , this means that they targeted and structured training in-house as part of our doc4pets academy . Programs are being developed for initial assistants , as well as individual training for our senior physicians . Ms. Succow is supported by a team of external lecturers and our in-house expertise. more exciting news coming soon .

Today Ms. Succow gave her second lecture - this time on the subject of the abdomen :

doc4pets academy – abdomen
VAT reduction
We will be cheaper from July 1st, 2020
We will be cheaper from July 1st, 2020 1024 724 Sven Jan Arndt

Dear animal lovers,
I don't know if you've ever noticed - you pay sales tax at the vet. In contrast to human physicians, we veterinarians are subject to sales tax . What does this mean for you? In principle nothing, except that as a consumer you cannot deduct the input tax and therefore our prices are subject to VAT. That's usually 19% on our services and 7% on food & medication etc.

Now the good news:
The federal government decided to reduce sales tax on July 1st, 2020. We will of course pass this on to you 1:1. This means that from today on our services are 3% cheaper and medicines & food etc. are 2% cheaper.

We are becoming cheaper
Photo by McGoo84 from FreeImages
The digital vet
The digital vet 580 720 Sven Jan Arndt

Recently, a “new pig has been driving through the village” – the digital veterinarian. They call themselves Dr.Sam, Pfotendoctor.de etc.

What to make of it?

First of all, here are some excerpts from what these platforms promise:

online vet / digital vet
Dr.Sam promises a lot here. The first four points make sense to us and are certainly correct.

But what about point 5? Immediate certainty!

Certainty about what?

  • that my animal is sick or not?
  • that maybe I should take my animal to a local veterinarian?
  • that I now pay a fee for vague information?

Pfotendoctor.de – Your digital vet goes even further:

  • “Our veterinarians can immediately assess how your pet can be optimally helped.”
  • “The fees are based on the official fee schedule for veterinarians . The amount corresponds to any normal visit to a veterinary practice.”

In order to be able to assess these statements a little, here is our experience from the daily operation of four small animal practices with well over 40 thousand cases per year:

  • A sick animal can only be examined to a very limited extent, if not at all, via telephone or video chat - what is primarily required is a physical inspection of an animal, palpation, taking the temperature, checking vital functions, if necessary smelling, etc.
  • This is often followed by further diagnostic measures such as X-rays, ultrasound, CT, MRI and blood work
  • Only these measures generally allow a competent diagnosis and associated therapy

Against this background, we ask ourselves the following questions about the digital vet:

  • How can he measure the temperature or examine the vital functions (e.g. listening to a cat in the event of a pulmonary embolism, etc.)?
  • How can he determine whether a leg is just sprained or even broken?
  • Even if he daringly allows himself to be carried away with a remote diagnosis, which his professional ethics actually forbids him to do, what happens next?
  • How can he administer a painkiller or medication?
  • How does he write prescriptions?
  • How does he bandage a wound?
  • How does he sew a bite?

These examples could be expanded on indefinitely. The actual benefit of such a digital vet appears to be very limited:

If the digital veterinarian takes his training and professional ethics seriously, he can always advise, in case of doubt, to visit a registered veterinarian or find an appropriate veterinary clinic.

Then the question actually arises – what is the advantage of the digital vet?

  • In fact, we have a lot of calls, especially in the emergency service, who don't actually want to come with their pet, but want a telephone "absolution" that everything is only half as bad and that they don't have to go to the vet until the next day - these pet owners can In fact, such a digital veterinarian can help - a placebo that benefits the patient owner, but in case of doubt does not spare the animal suffering
  • If the digital veterinarian takes his job seriously, then in fairness he probably has to send at least every second patient owner to a registered veterinarian, as was the case in our telephone calls, because this is the only way to alleviate an animal's suffering
  • nothing for telephone information from your trusted vet and, if they are not available, from the local veterinary clinic or local veterinary emergency service ! This is the daily bread and service of every good veterinarian .
  • There are also veterinary clinics and emergency services nationwide that are available 24 hours a day. So this alleged advantage of a digital vet applies.

The point is even more exciting - neither of the two platforms mentioned are operated by veterinarians - here is Dr.Sam's imprint:

The two managing directors are economists and not veterinarians. The company's purpose as recorded in the commercial register is also rather vague and actually needs to be checked by the relevant state veterinary association:

Things get even more exciting with the provider “Your digital vet” – Pfotendoctor.de :

digital vet - pfotendoctor.de

“The development, creation, marketing and distribution of telematics software.” So where the connection to veterinary medicine is remains hidden from us.

Against this background, it is even more interesting why such a platform charges according to the GOT (Fee Schedule for Veterinarians) (according to its own statement, see above)? Our veterinary chambers seem to be sleeping a little here, the chambers that in some places would still like to determine the size of the practice sign. Actually, only someone who is a licensed veterinarian is allowed to bill according to GOT, or have we misunderstood something?

We also can't find any of the veterinarians mentioned on Pfotendoctor.de as freelance or employed veterinarians on the Internet!? The term “veterinarian, ophthalmology department” does not officially exist either. Is this supposed to represent a non-existent additional qualification or specialist veterinary training?

Our conclusion about the digital vet:

  • The benefits of digital veterinarians appear to us to be very limited - what they can do is also available free of charge as information on the emergency service telephone or in any veterinary clinic.
  • The official operators of these platforms presented here do not come from veterinary medicine and do not state this in their corporate purpose
  • So the question remains – is the term “digital veterinarian” / “online veterinarian” an unprotected job title?
  • Can everyone use such a platform to bill according to the GOT?
  • When will the Federal Veterinary Association or state veterinary associations check this apparently unregulated activity?

Addendum:

The first foreign providers (outside Europe - from Switzerland) are now setting out to plow the German market - we saw the following advertising from pet-care.ch today:

The particular question here is whether and to what extent a non-European company in the EU is allowed to offer services in the field of veterinary medicine / online veterinary services, as these are subject to completely different approval criteria than their German colleagues. Behind this specific case is a large Swiss corporation - the Migros Group , which is known for everything but little or nothing for veterinary medicine.

Welcome Ms. Dr.med.vet. Silke Kühne at doc4pets Renchen
Welcome Ms. Dr.med.vet. Silke Kühne at doc4pets Renchen 150 150 Sven Jan Arndt

We are very pleased with Dr. Kühne has gained an experienced small animal specialist for our team in Renchen.

Miss Dr. Kühne is no stranger to the region. Before she spent years with Dr. Schwing worked in Friesenheim, she practiced in Ms. Elke Welberts' practice in Lahr.

With Dr. Kühne, we now have three very experienced and highly motivated veterinarians in Renchen, who are available to you in the Offenburg, Achern, Bühl and Baden-Baden region, both as good general practitioners with extensive diagnostic options and even more complicated operations.

You can find more information on our Renchen website.

 

doc4pets launches My.pet
doc4pets launches Mein.pet 1024 603 Sven Jan Arndt

“As veterinarians, we experience again and again that patient owners come to us with their animal in an emergency and have forgotten all the documents about the animal in their excitement. This is humanly understandable. However, with chronically ill animals it is often difficult to find out about pretreatment or medication in this situation. We wanted and want to solve this problem with Mein.pet – the digital animal medical record, among other things,” says veterinarian Susanne Arndt.

Mein.pet is a digital patient file primarily for dogs and cats. Using the animal's microchip ID and the nickname stored with Tasso, any veterinarian can determine the previous treatment, existing illnesses and current medication in an emergency - even for found animals. This can save lives.

digital animal medical record has the advantage that he has all the documents about his animal in one place and can access them on the go at any time. This means he can easily obtain second opinions or make referrals to specialist veterinarians or animal clinics easier and faster.

“What has already proven itself excellently in the human sector is, in our opinion, also a useful addition in veterinary medicine,” says Sven Jan Arndt, Managing Director of doc4pets.

Since we believe in the usefulness/necessity of a digital animal medical record such as that Mein.pet available free of charge to both pet owners and veterinarians

Mein.pet is operated by doc4pets GmbH from Karlsbad and is subject to Germany's strict data protection regulations. That's why, in principle, no personal data is requested during registration - only an email address is required for activation. The patient owner / pet owner then has control over the further anonymity of the individual patient file, which is only accessible when logged in, for example by blacking out laboratory results, findings, etc. in the appropriate places. But even without this measure, the data is safe because the entire site SSL encrypted.

Mein.pet explicitly does not offer any veterinary services - it only serves the central administration of data from patient owners!

About doc4pets GmbH:
doc4pets operates several owner-managed small animal practices in southwest Germany. We are independent of investors or chains and are pleased to be able to offer veterinary medicine at a high level with heart and mind at extensive emergency times. You can currently find our small animal paxes in:

doc4pets at the Deutsche Vet in Cologne 2019
doc4pets at the Deutsche Vet in Cologne 2019 372 104 Sven Jan Arndt

Today we had the opportunity to give a short lecture on the subject of veterinary marketing in the Deutsche Vet Business Theater.

We thank you for your participation and hope we were able to give you a little inspiration for even better and exciting marketing for your practice.

Maybe we'll see one or two of them at the London Vet in the autumn.

If you would like to have the full length lecture as a file, please email s.arndt@doc4pets.gmbh