Explanation for Record-Keeping Fee
Beginning June 24, 2024, GAVC will be requiring a record-keeping fee of $7 for prescriptions written to outside online pharmacies. This is a new fee that requires some explanation. We have avoided such a fee, which is common among companion-animal practices, for over 15 years.
When a client requests a prescription from an online pharmacy, there are several steps we have to fulfill in order to approve that prescription:
- We need to confirm the requested drug is indicated for the animal.
- We need to confirm the animal has a valid veterinary-client-patient relationship as defined by the state board of veterinary medicine.
- We need to confirm demographic details of the pet (age, gender, sterilization status, weight).
- We then have to fill out the confirmation paperwork for that prescription.
- Finally, the prescription needs to be documented in the patient's record.
These are all required steps mandated by the state board of veterinary medicine. They take time, professional expertise, and include overhead expenses like practice-management software and remote access software that allows us to make the needed evaluations and updates to the patient record. Like it or not, these steps cost our practice money and requires the compensation of the doctor or technician working to complete these steps.
In spring 2024, GAVC added a distributor-supported online pharmacy to its webpage, MVSO. When a client purchases a prescription through this pharmacy, unlike other online pharmacies that ship to home, GAVC gets a small markup from this pharmacy. In contrast, 100% of the money you pay to an outside online pharmacy goes to that outside online pharmacy. GAVC and its employees get no income from those pharmacies. If there is something wrong in the ordering process, often times the non-MVSO pharmacies provide poor customer service and task out fixing the prescrption to us, essentially having us do the repair of their shoddy work for them.
Unless an online pharmacy is derelict in its duties, we cannot keep you from choosing where to purchase your pet's prescriptions. However the board of veterinary medicine recognizes the time and work that goes into approving a prescription from an online pharmacy is a professional service, and charging for that time is legitimate. You will find many of our competititors in the Twin Ports also have a fee for this service. It is also standard practice among clinics in the Twin Cities.
With the new availability of MVSO through our clinic, you now have a price-friendly competitor to these pharmacies. A good chunk of small profit margins from sale of prescriptions on MVSO come back to our clinic, allowing us to better pay our staff and ensure they remain happy in their jobs. A majority of prescriptions on MVSO are similarly priced, if not cheaper, than what you can find at other online pharmacies.
Most importantly, if you purchase your prescriptions online through MVSO, there is no record-keeping fee. You will get the same or an even cheaper price for most medications, avoid the record-keeping fee, and still have your pet's prescriptions delivered to your door. This fee is not being implemented to "make us money," but rather to encourage you to support your local business and your neighbors who work there.
Thank you for your understanding.