Sent from my mobile. Enjoy. _____________________________________________________________
Hey all; here's a very interesting update! (and a frank and sometimes uncomfortable discussion discussion about charging money for health care)
The introduction of the 2013 AAHA Dental Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, approved and endorsed by the American Veterinary Dental College, prompted AAHA to update the Dentistry Section of the standards. The Guidelines state that cleaning a companion animal's teeth without general anesthesia is considered unacceptable and below the standard of care.
The dental specialists have been saying this for years and we've listened. Other hospitals preyed on fears of anesthesia and the lure of offering a service for about a hundred bucks that had no overhead. Pure profit.... But what was the catch? It wasn't good for your pets! So how do you calculate the savings when you buy a useless or even harmful procedure.
The Animal Hospital Association has decided to catch up with the standards that South Beach Animal Hospital has followed for the past 17 years. They now require that pet's getting teeth cleanings must be anesthetized !
We could have raked in huge profits over the past years by performing cheap non-anesthesia dental cleanings to folks who were glad to pay but it would go against what we knew(what every vet should have known) to be substandard care.
We will never offer something that isn't best for our patients.
This begs the question, why have other hospitals not been following this standard all along? If a hospital has been practicing substandard care all these years you have to think twice!
This is the same story as when the vaccine protocols went from yearly to every three years. As soon as the evidence was clear that this was better medicine, we at south beach animal hospital immediately responded by reducing vaccines in 1997. It meant we had to charge more and we know that turns people off but iI wasn't going to give my patients extra vaccines to keep the profit margin sustainable. It took another 10 years for the other hospital to start doing the same. WHY ????
Please support the only hospital willing to forgo higher profits to ensure the best care for your pets. Here's the catch; By adopting stricter health standards, the cost of the initial care rises, unfortunately. But what is the cost of providing bad care?
I have always contended that the better, more expensive care actually comes out cheaper in the long run. Our pets have less problems in old age and are certainly healthier during their lifetimes. Our competitors may trick you by offering a vaccine at half the price of ours and then sell it to every year instead of the healthier every three years. Again, what did you save? At south beach animal hospital you can always be sure that we are on the cutting edge of health care and are always looking for a healthier way to do things. See the new health care standards below.
AAHA-accredited members may have noticed an important change to the dentistry standards that were sent via email Aug. 1.
AAHA's new mandatory dental standard will impact practices scheduled for their evaluation on or after Nov. 1, 2013. Below, we share some facts about the new standard.What is the new mandatory dental standard?
All dental procedures are performed under general anesthesia with patients intubated.
What has changed?
This standard changed from a points-based standard (DE01, worth 100 points) to a mandatory standard requiring that all dental procedures be performed under general anesthesia with patients intubated.
Why did the AAHA Board of Directors decide to make this change?
The introduction of the 2013 AAHA Dental Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, approved and endorsed by the American Veterinary Dental College, prompted AAHA to update the Dentistry Section of the standards. The Guidelines state that cleaning a companion animal's teeth without general anesthesia is considered unacceptable and below the standard of care. General anesthesia with intubation is necessary to properly assess and treat the companion animal dental patient. The use of general anesthesia allows for the necessary immobilization without discomfort, periodontal probing, intraoral radiology, and the removal of plaque and tartar above and below the gum line including polishing to ensure patient health and safety. Because AAHA-accredited hospitals are expected to practice the highest level of veterinary medicine, AAHA's leadership felt it necessary to update the standards to reflect best practices outlined in the Guidelines.
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