It was a busy first six months of 2023 for veterinary professionals and practices, and the rest of the year isn’t likely to slow down. With the tradeshow circuit back to pre-pandemic attendance and new regulations going into effect, veterinary professionals have had to manage far more than just patient care.
With the year a little more than halfway over, we’re taking a quick “paws” to review some of the major changes that have already gone into effect, ones still to come, and ways you can prepare your practice for success in the second half of the year. Here are the top five changes and trends we’re keeping an eye on.
1. Implementation of GFI #256
Earlier this year, the FDA finalized regulatory guidance for compounded medications, known as GFI #256. The new guidance affects both office stock in veterinary practices and individual animal-patient prescriptions. However, it does not include cGMP products from 503B outsourcing facilities, like Epicur Pharma.
Some of the biggest changes that GFI #256 brings include:
- Increased documentation for patient-specific prescriptions
- Limitations to available 503A office-stock drugs
Although veterinary professionals were aware of the impending changes with GFI for months, many have been left scrambling since it went into effect in April. If GFI is affecting your practice’s ability to get compounded medications for office use, partnering with a trusted 503B outsourcing facility can help you eliminate risks of limited ordering.
Because 503B outsourcing facilities aren’t included in the GFI changes, partners like Epicur Pharma can ensure your practice stays stocked with high quality, manufactured medications and help streamline ordering processes with our iFill ordering system. The system lists what you can order for office stock and will provide the documentation necessary for patient-specific orders if the guidance requires it.
Our team is dedicated to helping you stay up to date on regulation changes.
We partner with experts to offer educational webinars that ensure you understand the impact on your practice. Watch our most recent on-demand GFI webinar with Nicole Clausen, What Every Inventory Manager Needs to Know About Compounded Medications.
2. Impending USP Guidelines on Beyond-Use Dates
Coming in late 2023, new USP guidelines will limit Beyond-Use Dates (BUDs) on drugs from 503A compounding pharmacies. The changes will shorten the BUDs of compounded 503A products and will not allow pharmacies to establish longer dates, even with sufficient evidence to support or prove their cause.
The new guidelines will only affect BUDs and not expiration dates because drugs can only be assigned with an expiration date after the completion of extensive testing, which 503Bs are required to follow.
As with GFI, this USP guideline will not affect 503B products because they have longer/proven expiration dates validated by cGMP. This impending change is another reason why having a 503B partner is critical to your practice and patient care.
Want to learn more about Beyond-Use Dates vs Expiration Dates?
Read our blog!
Switching to a 503B partner now will not only alleviate any challenges you’ve had since GFI went into place, but it will also ensure you can order with ease as the impending USP guidelines of BUDs goes into effect!
3. Continued Burnout and Veterinary Staff Shortages
Unemployment rates continue to affect the veterinary industry, with estimates that by 2030 there will be a shortage of 15,000 veterinarians, making the demand for more workers increasingly urgent.
Veterinarians and staff alike struggle to cope with the challenges they face in their daily work environments. As a result, many dedicated professionals are turning away from veterinary medicine, exacerbating the current staff shortages. It is now more important than ever to be aware of the signs and symptoms of burnout so you can properly address them within your work environment.
Although it can be difficult to see, there are some ways you can help find solutions within your practice. It often starts with communication. Make sure you check in with colleagues, notice signs of stress, and offer help. Small changes within your work environment can help relieve the daily non-stop work, like setting a proper lunch break time. You can also automate processes where it makes sense and enhances your practice, such as online ordering and inventory management systems, to give time back to staff.
Need support? Many veterinary professionals are in crisis. Not One More Vet (NOMV) provides the necessary support to all members of veterinary teams and students who are struggling. Contact them today.
4. Prioritizing Client and Patient Relations
In the evolving veterinary industry, prioritizing client and patient relationships remains essential to ensuring the highest possible level of care, especially when transitioning to a service-based model. With this shift, clients often seek a personalized experience knowing you value their pet’s health and well-being as if it were your own.
Did you know?
All Epicur Pharma drugs are ready to ship same business day with 1-2 days in transit. Order today!
Often, veterinary hospital visits can be stressful for both the patient and the client. Creating an environment to keep everyone comfortable and educated throughout the visit can build trust with patients and clients.
Establishing trust with pet owners fosters a positive customer experience and nurtures long-lasting loyalty. This can be achieved by creating opportunities to share your knowledge with clients. Whether it’s tips on proper medication usage and storage, guidance on applying medications, reminders of seasonal factors such as ticks or high heat, sharing your expertise helps build a strong relationship with pet owners. To make the client’s time at your practice convenient, you can also stay regularly stocked on compounded medications approved for dispensing through a 503B outsourcing facility like Epicur Pharma.
5. Product Shortages
Product shortages are inevitable and variable, stemming from product recalls, labor shortages, unavailability of necessary packaging, or active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Recent compounded medication shortages from some suppliers have included Buprenorphine Injection, Tacrolimus AQ, and Gabapentin – leaving offices out of stock and unable to have the necessary medications readily available in case of patient emergencies. Keep in mind that for compounded medication, another supplier will be able to help you. The uncertainty of this makes it especially important to have a veterinary pharmacy that you can rely on to inform you of product changes and availability.
With Epicur, consistent and reliable 503B manufactured products are our standard every time. We offer one of the largest selections of 503B manufactured drugs that are traditionally compounded for animal health among currently registered facilities nationwide, with most of our products not having a backorder or shortage in years!
Partner with a pharmacy you trust—explore our available medications.
More to Read
Controlled Substances 101: How & Why You Must Comply! Parts 1 and 2
December 4 | 7 p.m. ET RACE-Approved CE Credit Hours: 2Free to attend Learn the practical strategies for achieving compliance, managing inventory, handling waste and transfers, and protecting their staff, practice, and profits. Save My Seat
Martyrdom in Veterinary Medicine
October 28 | 7 p.m. ET RACE-Approved CE Credit Hours: 1Free to attend Explore the often-overlooked culture of martyrdom in veterinary medicine, where enduring excessive workloads is frequently mistaken for dedication. It will guide veterinary professionals in recognizing and changing self-sabotaging behaviors that lead to burnout and unsustainable work practices. Save My Seat
5 Proven Strategies to Slash Your Veterinary Practice’s COGS
The following blog is written by Epicur Pharma’s Advisory Council member, Nicole Clausen, CSSGB, CCFP. With over 15 years of experience in the veterinary industry, Nicole understands successful practice’s operations, intricacies, and internal workings, including sustainable inventory management strategies. Picture this: you’re looking at your practice’s financials, and despite healthy appointment numbers and solid revenue growth, your profit margin keeps shrinking. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. I see this scenario play out time and time again in veterinary practices across the country. Here’s the thing about inventory costs and cost of goods sold (COGS) – when they’re creeping up, it’s rarely because you’re suddenly spending wildly. More often, it’s like a slow leak in your profit tank. A little extra inventory here, a missed charge there, some expired products pushed to the back of the shelf. Before you know it, your COGS have jumped from 22% to 29%, and you’re left scratching your head, wondering where all that profit went. The good news? The profit didn’t actually disappear; it’s being eroded by system failures that are possible to fix. And here’s what I love about reducing COGS: when you get it right, you’re not just cutting costs, you’re freeing up cash to do amazing things—for patients, staff, or the practice. I’ve seen practices use their COGS savings to give staff raises, buy that new ultrasound they’ve been eyeing, or finally hire that additional technician. Here are the five strategies that consistently deliver the biggest impact for the practices I work with. Strategy #1: Eliminate Formulary Redundancy This is probably the fastest way to see results, and it’s where I always start with new clients. Walk into your pharmacy right now and count how many different flea and tick preventions you carry. Five? Six? Now think about your smallest size—say, the 4-9 pound option. If each product comes in a sleeve of 60 doses and you stock five different brands, that’s 300 doses of the tiny dog size sitting on your shelf. Unless you’re seeing 300 tiny dogs a month (and let’s be honest, most of practices aren’t), you’ve got way too much cash tied up in inventory. Every practice has these “doctor preference” situations where one vet loves Brand A, another swears by Brand B, and before you know it, you’re carrying everything under the sun. Here’s what I recommend: have an honest conversation with your team about consolidating. Pick one or two options per category and stick with them. Yes, there might be some pushback initially, but your bottom line will thank you. Strategy #2: Optimize Your Inventory Turnover Think of your inventory like produce at the grocery store: you want everything moving quickly and efficiently. When it comes to turning inventory, the magic number I like to aim for is every 30 days or less, or to match your billing cycle. That means if you buy 10 units of something, you should sell through those 10 units within 30 days. The key here is setting up reorder points for your inventory; these are especially important for high-volume, high-value items. Your flea and tick products, your commonly used antibiotics, your surgical supplies—these should be on a weekly or bi-weekly replenishment schedule. This might feel scary at first (what if we run out?) and it might be a big change, but it can be invaluable for your practice. You’ll carry less inventory overall and have better cash flow. I always tell my clients: aim to use or sell everything before you have to pay for it. If you’re on statement billing and purchase something at the beginning of the month, ideally, it should all be gone by the time you have to pay at the month’s end. Strategy #3: Leverage Your Practice Management System This one’s huge, and it’s something I see practices miss all the time. Most modern practice management systems have an auto-markup function that will automatically recalculate your prices when costs go up. But here’s the thing: it only works if you’re actually receiving your purchase orders through the system. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done audits and found items priced below cost because nobody updated the prices when the vendor raised their costs. We’re talking about generic medications, supplements, and other basic medications or supplies that quietly go up in price without any fanfare. If you’re not leveraging your PIM’s markup function, you might be leaving money on the table. Also, take advantage of those associated entries and service packages. If you’re using pre-meds during surgery but not adding them to the medical history or invoice, set up your system so that when someone enters “pre-med administration” (which could even be $0, as the price is included in the surgery procedure), it automatically deducts the appropriate medications from inventory. This gives you accurate usage tracking without having to charge clients separately for every injection that was administered. Strategy #4: Implement Bulletproof Charge Capture Let me paint you a picture that might make you a little queasy. Is your inventory management system the right fit for your practice? Our online ordering platform, iFill, helps you stay stocked, compliant, and efficient Track drug expiration dates with ease Access detailed order history anytime Take advantage of price breaks to manage costs Streamline fulfillment so you can focus on patient care Create your account online or call 888-508-5032 to get started! Sign Up for iFill Imagine you have a product that costs $90 and sells for $121.50. If you miss charging just one a week for a year, you’ve lost about $6,000 in revenue. Miss two per week? Now your costs are actually higher than your sales for that one product. This is where charge capture becomes absolutely critical. I recommend regular medical record audits, either during appointments or after the fact. Train your team to fully understand how to charge for everything they’re using. Set up your codes in a way that makes it easy to capture charges correctly. Strategy #5: Plug Your Revenue Leaks Here’s
