The Veterinary Innovation Council
A collaborative, industry-wide initiative focused on leading innovation in global animal health.
The Veterinary Innovation Council is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving access and quality in animal healthcare worldwide by developing and championing disruptive solutions surrounding key emerging issues.
Mission
To be an effective steward of the veterinary profession, instigating needed change in a collaborative way to transform the veterinary ecosystem.
Vision
Innovation that advances the veterinary medical profession and leads to improved animal health and welfare.
What We Do
Ongoing Strategic Goals & Objectives
VIC works to identify issues that are not currently being solved that will have a large impact on the veterinary community with specific focus on animal health and economic impact. After identification, committees are created to lead the process of curating and vetting future topics for consideration. After approval, recommendations/solutions are presented to the veterinary community.
The Council develops relationships that serve as a solid foundation for productive collaboration to drive engagement, and then collaborates with other professional groups to increase engagement within the complex veterinary ecosystem. Our work involves the broader veterinary community in generative conversations to generate awareness of the organizations role and the impact of its efforts.
2022 VIC Strategic Initiative:
Breaking Barriers: Delivering Care Through a Client-Centered Approach
- The veterinary profession recognizes the science-based evidence supporting the positive impact of animals in our society and on human physical and emotional health (the human-animal bond).
- Approximately 70% of US households have pets, and the overwhelming majority of them see their pets as family members.
- Many pet owners in the US currently don’t regularly access veterinary healthcare services and, as a result, 88 million animals receive minimum to no care.
- 50% of pets are owned by households with less than $54,000 of income, supporting the notion that many families face financial constraints providing healthcare for the animal members of their families under the current structure of practice and delivery systems.
- Access to care is affected by many factors beyond finances, including geography, travel and transport challenges, scheduling obstacles, limited clinical resources, cultural and communication barriers, owner understanding of basic animal health conditions, owner awareness of the value of preventative care, and more.
- The Veterinary Innovation Council believes it is important for all animals to have access to basic veterinary healthcare services.
2021 Strategic Initiative:
Building Better Teams
Building Better Teams
Pet healthcare in the United States faces challenges on all fronts due to chronic shortages throughout the system. The below challenges exist in veterinary medicine and are the basis to the development of VIC’s seven strategic steps toward building better teams.
- There are too few veterinarians to meet growing demand by millennials for pet care, with the shortage increasing each year.
- There are too few credentialed veterinary technicians/nurses, a general dissatisfaction with utilization of their trained skills and competencies and low pay.
- There is a lack of training or awareness for veterinarians on how best to work with veterinary technicians/nurses and why it is vital to successful practices.
- We have a confusing mixture of titles and responsibilities for veterinary technicians/nurses from state to state, with pet owners not understanding their expertise, training and certification.
- There’s a need to apply lessons from human healthcare about the essential role of extenders or professionals other than veterinary medical doctors. A thoughtful, national strategy must be developed to address these issues.
- With the exception of four universities, veterinary schools are not involved with academic programs for veterinary technicians/nurses.
- The new culture of pets in America and the rise of millennial pet owners has increased overall demand for pet healthcare professionals.
Supplemental Resources
High Value Veterinary Technician Initiative: 2-yr vs. 4-yr Education Project Report
Masters in Veterinary Clinical Care: Exploratory Project Report
VIC Board of Directors
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If you’d like additional information about the VIC, or you’d like to get involved in furthering our mission to provide better care for animals everywhere, please contact Marcie Whichard directly at [email protected].
Sponsors
We are so thankful for our generous sponsors.
