When to hold ’em and when to fold ’em in practice management
Bottom line
A new Today’s Veterinary Business practice management editorial argues that veterinary leaders should treat new initiatives less like permanent mandates and more like testable bets, with clear criteria for whether to keep going or stop. In “When to Hold ‘Em and When to Fold ‘Em,” veterinarian and tech founder Stacee Santi uses two examples: a postoperative photo-texting program that gained traction because it resonated with pet parents, and a telemedicine effort that didn’t stick because the workflow burden outweighed the benefit. The piece lands at a moment when client communication tools are becoming more embedded in practice operations, while telehealth adoption remains uneven across the profession. (todaysveterinarybusiness.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the takeaway isn’t simply “embrace innovation” or “ditch what’s hard.” It’s that new services need operational fit, team buy-in, and a measurable return, whether that return is client trust, better compliance, or staff efficiency. That’s especially relevant for communication tools: AAHA guidance notes that telehealth can support follow-up care, wound checks, and client engagement, but also warns that image quality, missed cues, legal requirements, and workflow design can limit its usefulness. In other words, a tool that looks promising on paper can still fail in a real clinic if it adds friction or doesn’t match how care is actually delivered. (aaha.org)
What to watch: Expect more practices to apply this kind of ROI-plus-workflow lens to AI, texting, telehealth, and other client-facing tools as digital adoption matures. (ebusiness.avma.org)
A new Today’s Veterinary Business editorial is making a practical point that will feel familiar to many clinic leaders: not every good idea deserves indefinite patience. In “When to Hold ‘Em and When to Fold ‘Em,” Stacee Santi urges veterinary managers to decide whether a new initiative is facing a temporary setback or has reached a true dead end, using a successful postoperative photo update program and an unsuccessful telemedicine rollout to frame the decision. (todaysveterinarybusiness.com)
That message arrives as veterinary practices continue sorting through a crowded menu of digital tools. Client communication platforms are now relatively common, with the AVMA’s 2025 Economic State of the Veterinary Profession report finding that 59.9% of practices use client communications software integrated with their practice information management system, while 29.2% use telehealth, defined there as any virtual consultation or communication with clients. The gap suggests that practices are more comfortable with lightweight communication tools than with more clinically and operationally complex virtual-care models. (ebusiness.avma.org)
The examples surrounding Santi’s column help explain why. A separate Today’s Veterinary Business article on standard operating procedures describes how a simple text with a pet’s postoperative X-ray and a short update created a stronger emotional connection and clearer client experience than a routine phone call. That kind of intervention is relatively easy to standardize, fits naturally into existing surgical workflows, and gives pet parents timely reassurance. By contrast, telemedicine requires more deliberate workflow design, staff training, case selection, and documentation. AAHA’s telehealth resources say virtual follow-ups can be useful for wound healing, pain control, and monitoring, but they also note the limits of remote assessment, including image quality, missed physical cues, and the need to comply with state practice acts. (todaysveterinarybusiness.com)
Regulatory context also shapes whether a clinic should “hold” or “fold” on telemedicine. AAHA and AVMA caution that practices must follow federal, state, and local law, and the AAVSB’s model regulations emphasize that telemedicine is held to the same professional standards as in-person care. The AAVSB commentary further notes that its 2025 delegate resolution did not support establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship solely by virtual means and stressed the need for enforceable access to in-person care. For practice leaders, that means a telemedicine program can’t be evaluated only on client demand or vendor promises; it also has to make sense within the clinic’s legal and medical reality. (aaha.org)
Industry guidance broadly supports the editorial’s central argument that implementation matters as much as the idea itself. AAHA’s telehealth workflow guidance says practices may need to adjust scheduling, staffing, communication, and client education to create a positive experience. More recent industry commentary has made a similar point about connected-care tools and teleconsultation: the value rises when the technology is embedded into existing systems and reduces clicks, rather than creating one more disconnected process for the team to manage. (aaha.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the column is really about disciplined decision-making. Practices are under pressure to improve service, protect staff time, and meet pet parent expectations, but not every initiative will advance all three goals. The most durable programs may be the ones that solve a specific pain point with minimal operational drag, such as proactive surgical updates, discharge templates, or structured digital follow-ups. More ambitious offerings, including telemedicine, can still be worthwhile, but they need clearer protocols, stronger compliance guardrails, and honest measurement of whether they improve care, retention, or efficiency enough to justify the lift. (todaysveterinarybusiness.com)
There’s also a broader management lesson here. In a profession where teams often push through friction out of commitment to patients and clients, leaders can be slow to admit when a project isn’t working. Santi’s framing gives managers permission to separate persistence from stubbornness. That may become increasingly important as practices evaluate newer tools, from AI scribes to expanded virtual care, where the promise is real but the operational payoff can vary widely from one hospital to the next. (todaysveterinarybusiness.com)
What to watch: The next phase for veterinary practices will likely be less about adopting more technology and more about narrowing in on which tools genuinely improve client communication, clinical follow-through, and team efficiency, and which ones are better left behind. (ebusiness.avma.org)