1. Three Tier Reminder System
2. Travel Sheet and In-Hospital tracking Sheet
3. Lifestyle Survey or Pre-Exam Checklist
4. Fee schedule and Charging Standardized Mark-ups
5. Make the Most Out of Your Practice's Schedule
Three tier reminder system
Helping Hints for Establishing a Three Tiered Reminder System
• Mandate that going forward future reminder history must be entered for all patients (new and existing). Receptionists
or healthcare team members that are intimately involved with maintaining patient information must be trained on how to make
sure all patients have future reminders.
• If the expiration dates are unknown, the healthcare team must take the following steps to get vaccine history information.
1. Ask the client for the information (e.g. a previous invoice or records)
2. Call the previous veterinary hospital with the owner's consent for vaccination information.
3. If the client does not have any information and has no place for you to call, ask the owner when the vaccines were
performed last. According to the information that is provided, enter in a reminder to either prepare for future notification
or indicate in your system that the vaccines are past due.
4. Take this opportunity to verbally inform clients when the next vaccines are due or educate them on the vaccines that
are past due and the significance of keeping the pet properly vaccinated.
• Establish which future reminders each species should have entered into the system prior to their file being filed or prior
to concluding with the patient's visit or transaction. An example for cats and dogs is listed below:
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Canine patients must have at least six future reminders
Annual Comprehensive Physical Examination
1. Rabies Vaccination
2. DHLPP Vaccination
3. Bordetella Vaccination
4. Annual Fecal Examination
5. Annual Heartworm Test
6. Strategic Deworming
Feline patients must have at least five future reminders
1. Annual Comprehensive Physical Examination
2. Rabies Vaccination
3. FVRCP Vaccination
4. Annual Fecal Examination
5. Strategic Deworming
• Once you have a sound system in place for the reminders, preparing to send out reminders according to the following schedule
will become much easier. For example, if you are preparing to mail out reminders for the month of November (specifically
November 1st – November 15th), it is recommended that you follow this schedule.
o 1st Reminders for 11/1-11/15 – Mail these out two weeks prior to 11/1. (Use a standard veterinary type postcard)
o 2nd Reminders for 11/1-11/15 – Mail these out four weeks after 11/1. (Use the tri-fold reminder letter)
o 3rd Reminders for 11/1-11/15 – Mail these out eight weeks after 11/1. (Use the health alert postcard)
• It is recommended that you mail reminders out for each month in increments of two. Meaning that you mail the 1st - 15th
and the 16th - 30th separately. Doing so will alleviate a high volume of clients responding at the reminders at the same
time. This approach spaces out inquiries to schedule appointments and will not have the practice overwhelmed with vaccination
appointments one week and possibly slow for three other weeks.
• Each time you print your reminders, you will receive a report at the time the reminders are generated. If you compare the
number of reminders you print with the 1st mailing to the number you print subsequently with the 2nd and 3rd mailing you will
be able to track your client compliance rate. Your compliance rate should be somewhere between 80 – 85%. This system will
drastically help raise your client's compliance rate.
• You can contact the following companies to order your reminder supplies:
o 1st Reminders (Postcards) – Medical Arts Press #800-444-3634 or AVLS Petcom
o 2nd Reminders (Tri-fold Letters) – AVLS Petcom #402-466-4303
o 3rd Reminders (Health Alert Reminder) – AVLS Petcom #402-466-4303
