Two weeks ago, we touched on the trend toward an increasing veterinary student debt load as one reason that the cost of pet health care keeps going up. Here's a second trend:

Trend 2: The Increase In The Number of Corporate-Owned Veterinary Practices

When I opened up my first veterinary practice in 1987, all veterinary practices were privately owned. However, beginning in the late nineties, a number of practices began to coalesce into large, multi-group corporations that have since gobbled up hundreds of other practices or opened new ones across the country. While you gain the advantage of procedural uniformity and expectancy when you visit one of these "corporate" practices, you also get that same uniformity, plus a high degree of inflexibility, when it comes to pricing. Which means that a pet owner in Texas may be paying the same prices as a pet owner in California, where veterinary fees are among the highest in the country.

While this is by no means the "rule", it's still a concern. The other concern is loss of veterinarian discretion. As a private practice owner, I have the option of lowering a particular fee or eliminating it altogether in special circumstances. Veterinarians employed by corporations usually lack such discretion. I know. I've done relief work at a few of these corporate practices over the years.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking the quality of medicine that these corporate practices provide. In most cases, it's excellent. But they can be pricey. And the centralized computers connected to the home office rarely, if at all, allow for price adjustments. Good for the bottom line, but bad for that pet owner who finds himself/herself in a difficult financial situation.

Trend 1: The Rise in Veterinary Student Debt

A study put out last year indicated that the average veterinary student graduating today is in debt to the tune of over $150,000. That's crazy!  Economics dictates that they've got to pay that back somehow. Some go into private practice and set their fee schedules accordingly. Others go on to become specialists so that they can command even higher fees.  Either way, your costs go up.

The question is: Do we blame the veterinarian or should we blame the cost of the veterinary education? I'm inclined to blame the latter. For example, there's a crisis today in food animal medicine because nobody wants to go into it (how can they possibly pay back that kind of debt load by establishing a practice in a rural community?). There's also a shortage of government vets for the same reason.

I've heard the argument, "Well, if the number of small animal veterinarians increases, then  competition will drive down prices". I disagree. The competition will eventually self-correct with more and more vets closing their practice doors or selling to big corporations. Then just watch and see what happens to veterinary fees. It won't be pretty.

So what's the answer? Lower the cost of a veterinary education for these young men and women. What can you do? Contact your state senators and representatives via letter, e-mail, or phone and express your concern about this "trend". Believe me, as a pet owner, doing so will be in your best interest.