Veterinarians in Service to People and their Companion Animals 

 
Nurturing and supporting the Human-Animal Bond   

      The goal of Praxis Veterinary Consulting is to assist veterinary medical practitioners in developing those human elements that better enable clinicians to connect with their clients; elevating the art and practice of veterinary medicine.

     As in pediatric human medicine, excellent communication skills are crucial, as involvement of people in their pet's health outcomes is absolutely necessary.

    This website is dedicated to people and their pets and the medical professionals who are in service to them. Hopefully Praxis can serve as an agent of change to promote excellence in communication in the delivery of veterinary medical and surgical services.Good health outcomes and quality of life depend on fidelity in providing health care for our companion animals and the people who love them.

     The Joey Gale Memorial Health Screening Program for Dogs & Cats

     The pilot program to provide low-cost health screening for dogs and cats of all ages will continue in the New York City Metropolitan area. The premise behind this program is to provide affordable access to primary veterinary services to the public. Health screening entails a thorough health, behavioral and vaccination history and a complete head to toe physical examination. Dr. Shell Gale, D.V.M. schedules one half hour of her time with each patient. Urinalysis and other testing can be done. Each owner is provided with a copy of the medical record generated by Dr. Gale. This can include recommendations for follow-up with the Veterinarian of their choice. Lifestyle changes and other issues brought to light might contribute to prevention of illness in the future. Finding problems before they become emergent is extremely useful in attaining better treatment outcomes for patients. The bottom line for health screening is to educate people about their pet's health so they can make informed decisions about necessary health care services.

See more about the health screening program under Services.

Healthcare Financing

     Veterinary medicine and surgery has advanced to the point where it is on par with human medicine. Healthcare financing provides easy access to medical and surgical veterinary services for owners. Pet health insurance will make high quality veterinary care available to all. As this trend takes form and develops, it is important for individuals and practitioners to become familiar with the meaning of terms used by insurance companies and in the literature. In this way, we can critically evaluate proposed programs and methods for ourselves. Knowledge is power. Praxis will provide a continuing and evolving glossary of terms and concepts as well as encouraging dialogue among practitioners and their clients to facilitate this process.

Pet Healthcare Financing 101

     Here are some terms to become familiar with:

     Insurance: is an accumulation of money. How this money is disbursed is determined by requirements of the business involved, in this case, the veterinary medical field.

     Pooling: is the basis of insurance. Many contributions (parts of the whole) which can be drawn upon when need develops.

     Health Insurance: the gathering of funds to make available medical and surgical services to companion animals in order to maintain optimal health throughout life.

     Underwriting: determining how much each beneficiary member should pay into the pool based on expected, potential or prospective claims costs (fund pool payouts).

     Pre-payment plans: owner pays premiums on a predetermined schedule for healthcare benefits. These are provided by participating DVMs, hospitals and clinics. Out-of-pocket expenses are relatively negligible. Practitoners submit charges to insurance providers.

     Reimbursement (indemnification or fee-for-service): The owners pay scheduled premiums but also pay veterinary bills in full at point of service. After a claim is filed, the insurance company determines what monies (if any) will be returned to the owners.

     PPOs (preferred provider organizations): These groups can be opened or closed to participating practitoners. With open PPOs, any DVM who is credentialed and agreed to contract terms can participate without being a member.

     HMOs (health maintanence organizations): employ practitioners.

     Diagnostic Coding: reimbursement to doctor as determined by service code. These are made known to DVMs before they join the group.

     Managed Care: The observation and monitoring of medical and surgical services rendered and their billing. Quality of care is monitored. Appropriate referrals to specialists are enabled.

   You are invited to send questions and inquiries about pet healthcare financing and how it effects you and our companion animals.

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Dr. Shell Gale, D.V.M., CONSULTANT