Time Required by Veterinarian to Perform Veterinary Acts in Routine: A Regression Analysis

Abstract: Increased size of veterinary practices and the arrival corporate practices modifies the veterinary landscape in many countries. This enables economies of scale for drugs or pet food purchases, overall improving the profitability. Working time per act is a key driver of profitability for firms with high human resources such as veterinary practices. The time spent by veterinarians to perform veterinary acts in routine is yet currently poorly described. Using regression analysis, we analyze the working time of different veterinary acts in veterinary practices. The time required for each veterinary act in mixed practices has been determined using multivariable regression model. A dataset of 714,413 observations from a 3 year-period (2015-2017) was extracted from the accounting software’s of French veterinary mixed practices. The number of worked days per veterinarian and per month, and the number of acts per veterinarian and per month were analyzed for different acts in companion animal and farm producing animals. We found that the average time required for a farm producing animals’ consultation, herd-monitoring, surgery and companion animal consultation was 46 (95%CI = 39-55), 177 (95%CI = 159-190), 97 (95%CI = 77-116) and 29 (95%CI = 19-36) minutes, respectively, based on an average 9h day working duration. 

Key words: veterinary practices; profitability; regression; consultation; surgery; herd monitoring

JEL codes: M2, M54