MWI Animal Health Easy Care
Spring 2019 | SENIOR DESIGN STRATEGIST and ENGAGEMENT lead AT EPAM CONTINUUM
Objective
EPAM Continuum partnered with MWI Animal Health to determine what products and services they should offer to support and enable the evolution of independent veterinary practices.
After contextual research at independent clinics and in-depth interviews with pet parents, we envisioned a membership offering that is a payment model that matches pet parent needs and business model that matches how independent veterinarians deliver care.
Research & Insights
CLINIC VISITS
9 half-day visits to independent clinics in Boston, Portland, and Dallas to understand the motivations, considerations, and obstacles of veterinarians, vet techs, practice managers, and receptionists.
High-value staff lead to high-value client relationships.
All staff are responsible for delivering the right kind of service experience to attract and keep the best clients.
The reality of the job is working with people, but “they don’t teach that in school.”
Many of the core competencies that DVMs and other veterinary staff need to be successful in their work are interpersonal and emotional.
Without real profit, independent veterinarians are riding the momentum of demand to nowhere (or into ruin).
Bringing on more patients without increasing revenue per patient is building a house of cards.
Veterinarians make money on a fee-for-service model, but independent veterinarians are trying to deliver value-based care.
Independent veterinarians pride themselves on delivering care that is antithetical to their payment model.
Pet Parent In-home Interviews
9 2-hour in-home interviews with extreme vet users and leading pet owners.
Owners project their own health values onto their pets.
Pet parent spending on veterinary care may be more correlated with spending on their own healthcare than it is with other forms of pet spending.
Pet parents don’t know how to judge quality medicine.
Many parents use how they are treated and the attention their pet receives as a proxy for quality of care.
Pet pain is invisible.
Pet parents use behavior as a proxy for the state of their health so without behavior change, care feels elective
Care is often communicated as optional.
When veterinarians seem hesitant about the necessity of a treatment, it feels like sales to pet parents.
The Solution
We envisioned a membership offering that is a payment model that matches pet parent needs and a business model that matches how independent veterinarians deliver care. This both removes the volatility of veterinary spending as well as aligns incentives between the pet parent and the veterinarian: pet parents know their pet is being cared for and veterinarians feel they can provide care without compromise. Additionally, this removes financial conversations that are uncomfortable for both pet parents and veterinary staff.
For MWI, by creating the pricing structure and plans as well as handling billing and payments, they provide a service independent clinics are unable to build or handle on their own. Additionally, it creates an opportunity to expand into home delivery and enter telehealth.
The Result
The Easy Care program launched in the Spring of 2022, with clinics in the pilot program seeing a 190% increase in revenue.
