Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
HOW DOES OUR Partnership PROCESS WORK?
There are multiple steps to the process. We typically start by executing a confidentiality agreement and exchanging relevant information, which will allow us to better understand your practice. We spend significant time upfront getting to know you and your practice as this process helps us understand your unique situation and allows us to develop a partnership structure that fits your needs.
What should I expect to change following a transition?
We work collaboratively with our partner veterinarians to help relieve the stresses of running and managing a practice on a day-to-day basis. Partner veterinarians are able to spend a greater amount of their time and attention on delivering exceptional clinical care, while Western Veterinary Partners works to support the non-clinical activities that our partners need our help with.
What kind of recruiting support will you provide?
Our recruiting team works with you to recruit for DVM and support staff positions. We will introduce you to our Recruiting team during one of our weekly diligence calls to gain a full understanding of your current recruiting needs, and how best we can plan to position those needs after closing. Following our partnership, our recruiting team screens and shares potential candidates with you to determine if they are a good fit for your practice. Final hiring decisions are still made at the practice level.
What kind of health benefits does WVP offer?
We offer medical, dental, and vision through UnitedHealthcare, and supplemental benefits such as short-term and long-term disability, life, voluntary life/AD&D, voluntary accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity coverage through Unum. WVP contributes toward the medical premiums for all eligible DVMs and staff. Other benefits are offered at reasonable group plan prices and premiums are paid by the employee.
Will practice policies such as Holidays, Employee Discounts, Uniforms, etc. change?
We adopt your current policies, and always strive to keep intangible benefits as good as they were prior to partnering with WVP, if not better. WVP will provide a handbook during the payroll onboarding process, which outlines more general, safety, and compliance related topics.
How quickly are vendor accounts transitioned over? What happens until they are?
Our Accounts Payables (AP) team uses the vendor invoices and vendor list you share during diligence to prepare to transition accounts immediately following closing. Accounts are usually fully transitioned within 6-8 weeks following closing, if not sooner. Until the transition is complete, you can continue to order through your current accounts, and submit the invoices to WVP for payment. Our AP team will provide an overview of the process as we approach closing.
How will clinical decisions be impacted?
Clinical decisions will not be impacted. You will maintain clinical autonomy over your practice. Veterinarians will be provided the opportunity to benefit from sharing best practices among affiliated practices.
What type of practices do you partner with?
We partner with practices of all sizes and would welcome a conversation with you to determine if your practice may be a good fit with our organization.
Are you interested in practices where the veterinarian is seeking near-term retirement and a full transition?
Yes. We maintain a deep pipeline of talented veterinarians to be in a position to offer smooth transitions for veterinarians seeking retirement.
What will my role look like after we partner?
While we have basic job descriptions for the Medical Director and Hospital Manager roles, the way the two work together to lead the practice is unique to each location. As you likely do now –you’ll set the standard for medical care, determine which supplies and equipment best support that standard, lead and mentor Associate DVMs, and collaborate with the Hospital Manager to ensure excellent client and staff care. We will plan to dive into this further with you on our weekly diligence calls throughout the process.
Will we stay on our health plan or move to the WVP plan?
We will move your team over to our benefit plans once eligible, while ensuring there is no lapse in coverage for any of your employees currently enrolled in your benefits offering. If your practice currently offers group medical coverage, we will request documentation in diligence to do a comparison with the WVP plans to ensure all eligible employees are as good or better under our offering.
Can we still use the same vendors, and purchase office supplies in the same manner and from the same places (e.g., Costco)?
Yes! We are vendor agnostic and allow you to use the vendors that have helped you grow the practice to where it is today. We do have excellent relationships and discounts from most large suppliers which can often reduce costs, but by no means are you required to use any certain one. Your practice will be issued a corporate credit card for smaller day-to-day expenses that come up.
Will WVP change our practice software?
In short – no! WVP uses a platform to enable our partner practices to maintain the software program of their choice. We don’t generally initiate these changes, but fully support you and your team if you are in the process of a change or think a change is needed.
