Understanding client needs can boost adherence to treatment plans
Relationship-centered communication emphasizes value, not cost, during the visit
By Ashley Mayrianne Champagne
Building better relationships with clients also builds a better veterinary practice. It may seem simple, but it starts with an honest assessment of how veterinarians approach the conversation with owners.
Dr. Jason Coe, Mars Veterinary Health chair in relationship-centered veterinary medicine at the University of Guelph Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), has studied communication patterns in veterinary medicine for 20 years. His research has shown two general patterns:
- A veterinarian-centered approach, “where we take the great knowledge we possess, we develop it into a really well-conceived message, we shoot it up into the air, and we let it slam down onto our client, just like a shotput would,” he said.
- A relationship-centered approach, which is like a frisbee toss, inviting both people to participate. “It’s through a process of sharing information that we start to learn about each other, and it’s through learning about each other that we can start to appreciate where common ground exists. That we can find a path for moving forward that we’re all invested in and committed to,” Dr. Coe said.
The shift from veterinarian-centered communication to one that more proactively engages the owner or client in decision-making results in greater client satisfaction, trust, and adherence to treatment recommendations, he said during his keynote presentation, “Inside the Four Walls: How Relationships Shape Practice Performance” at the 2026 AVMA Veterinary Economic and Business Forum, held virtually October 7-8.
For example, findings from one of Dr. Coe’s papers, which appeared in JAVMA in 2012, indicate client adherence to dental and surgical procedures was higher within relationship-centered approaches in which communication was clear and collaborative. Clients also reported higher levels of satisfaction with their veterinarian in these types of interactions.
Cost versus value
A relationship-focused conversation with clients means providing information that is relevant to an individual client’s perspective and addresses the unique barriers that are keeping them from pursuing recommended care, Dr. Coe said. The key, he said, is explaining the care plan in terms of value first and then the cost.
“Value is subjective. The value of a procedure, product, or service is not inherent. Rather, it’s going to vary from person to person,” he said, depending on that individual’s rating of its usefulness or importance.
As such, veterinary professionals tend to approach value in a very different way than owners or clients do, Dr. Coe said.
“Pet owners almost always think about value in the context of ‘What is this going to mean to the future health and wellbeing of my animal?’ Whereas veterinary professionals … are often focused on making sure value is understood in terms of the time, the product, [and] the services they can offer,” he explained. “And for clients, they recognize that, but at the end of the day, what’s meaningful to them is, ‘Well, how does any of that translate into the health and wellbeing of my animal?'”
A paper by Dr. Coe and colleague, published in JAVMA in 2022, indicates only 14% of veterinarian-client interactions involved a cost discussion that communicated the value to the client in terms of the pet’s future health or wellbeing. Meanwhile, 74% contained a discussion only focused on time and service; 42% included medical information, such as what a diagnostic test might show; and 8% included a general discussion of financial cost.
Because value is subjective, every client may value a treatment option differently, regardless of affordability, he said. Other considerations may include usefulness or perceived importance.
Large animal medicine
Relationship-centered veterinary medicine is a transferable concept that can be applied across all veterinary contexts, Dr. Coe says, including large animal medicine.
“Although producers are running a business, value remains subjective, and what one producer prioritizes or views as important may not necessarily be the same as what another producer values or prioritizes as important in the same situation,” he told AVMA News, such as the genetic value of the cow, the need for increasing milk production, or spending time with family.
As such, gathering a comprehensive history remains an important starting point in food animal practice, and in turn, how veterinarians frame value and discuss options is also important, Dr. Coe said.
This sector of veterinary medicine appears to have an advantage over companion animal medicine, though, when it comes to interactions with clients.
A study he conducted with colleagues at OVC looked at producers’ and food animal veterinarians’ perceptions of producer-centeredness following on-farm veterinary interactions.
The results, published in the journal VetRecord in 2021, showed that participating producers rated the level of producer-centeredness higher than participating veterinarians, which is different from studies involving simulated client-veterinarian interactions in companion animal medicine.
The authors cited the fact that many producers work with their veterinarians on a regular basis, potentially resulting in a much different relationship. In the study, 63% of producers reported interacting with their herd health veterinarian at least every two weeks. In addition, food animal veterinarians typically spend more time with a client per interaction. During the study, veterinarians spent 49 minutes, on average, with producers compared with 15 to 30 minutes for a typical visit veterinarians have with pet owners.
Transparent conversations
During the forum, Maisey Kent, assistant director of statistical and data analysis in the AVMA Veterinary Economics Division, shared similar data collected from the 2026 Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook.
Approximately 26% of pet owners said they wish their veterinarians knew they were more concerned about costs than they let on, while another 20% say having pricing options upfront is important to them, the sourcebook data show.
“From a client-centered perspective, this creates an opportunity to make conversations feel more comfortable and judgement-free,” Kent said.
“Helping clients understand what’s included, why a service is recommended, and what options they might have can make the cost conversation a little bit clearer and easier for them to navigate. It also builds trust,” she said.
To help guide these conversations, Dr. Coe developed the Value Matrix, incorporating client, patient, veterinarian, and clinic considerations. It helps determine which factors do or do not receive priority.
A client consideration may be that they work long hours and so they cannot do a multiday treatment. A patient consideration could include not only some of the medical benefits associated with the different treatment options, but also the animal’s behavior or preferences. The matrix can also be used to support herd-level management decisions.
“It’s really intended to be a relationship-centered communication tool to help veterinary professionals and help clients move through the complexities and the volume of information that goes into decision-making,” he said.
In a paper published in JAVMA earlier this year by Dr. Coe and colleagues, surveyed veterinary clients rated the Value Matrix highly in terms of its overall usefulness in supporting veterinarian-client decision-making, with a median score of 9 out of 10.
It might not be needed for every decision, he said, but can help veterinarians work through complex cases or just organize their own thoughts before having a conversation with a client.
Fonte: www.avma.org
