In this episode of the Inventory Nation Podcast, I’m breaking down some of your top frustrations when it comes to managing inventory in your veterinary practice. Inventory management can be (and often is) an incredibly frustrating aspect of veterinary medicine. It’s often overwhelming, you aren’t sure what to order, you’re constantly worried you are running out of things, and it’s basically just a hot mess. Sound familiar? Well, this episode is for you because I’ll be giving you some tips and tricks just for you. I’ll be discussing:

1. How to handle when your team doesn’t let you know when something is running low
2. Ways to leverage your practice management system to help sell things correctly so that you can keep your inventory more accurate and reduce missed charges
3. Tips and tricks when you don’t have enough hours in the day to manage inventory and time is in short supply

• Move away from relying on the “want book/list” as your ordering strategy!

• “Low” is subjective and could mean something different to everyone in your practice

• Relying on the “want book” is a very reactive ordering strategy and it’s more beneficial to shift to a more proactive ordering approach where we are forecasting what we’ll use in the future

• I recommend using historical usage and sales data to forecast (aka predict) what you’ll use in the future

• Auditing medical records is a great way to catch missed charges and notice any trends/patterns in the missed charges

• Your practice management system has features to help protect against missed charges

• These protection measures might vary from practice management system to practice management system but they might include treatment groups, canned estimates, examination templates, and more

• Dedicated time to manage inventory is key

• Multi-tasking is often less productive than we hope for

• There are several mindsets to consider when managing inventory

• Don’t be afraid to try new things and be curious; you never know what might work best (or not so great) in your practice until you try

• Don’t strive for protection, strive for learning opportunities

If we haven’t met before and this is your first episode of the Inventory Nation Podcast, it’s a pleasure to meet you! My name is Nicole Clausen and I’m an inventory consultant, coach, and educator for veterinary professionals on inventory management. I absolutely love strategy, spreadsheets, and getting to know you. It truly is my passion and purpose to help inventory managers so they feel less overwhelmed and confident with their inventory strategy. I live for those lightbulb moments!

If we have met before, thank you for your continued support! I love having you a part of our community. Here’s a silly quiz with some random facts about me:

1. When is my birthday? November 9th!
2. Where would I like to live in the future? Near the ocean and much closer to my sister and my niece and nephew
3. What’s my favorite hobby? Gardening, swimming (especially snorkeling), and traveling
4. How tall am I? 6’1″
5. What’s my favorite season? I love the spring — especially when it’s coming out of winter and you can start planting and digging in the dirt. There’s so much potential!
6. What is my favorite animal? You probably know this — whales!
7. What pets do I have? I have four dogs (Tank, Mackenzie, Amelia, and Ollie), a cat (Hei Hei), two rabbits (Bob and Lulu), and a bunch of fish. I also have a bunch of “adoptive” birds that I feed with a variety of bird feeders. I have this family of doves that have lived by me for years and their numbers keep growing!

You can also find me on:

1. Pinterest
2. Instagram
3. Facebook
4. LinkedIn
5. the Veterinary Inventory Strategy Network