Page 171 - Veterinary Laser Therapy in Small Animal Practice

CHAPTER 10

Considering laser therapy for your practice

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. characteristics. A well-powered device is commonly in
Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear the range of 17,000–32,000 USD, but return on invest-
less. ment is usually high and fast with the right device,
— Marie Curie proper use, and an implementation plan. There are
good plans, and there are better plans, but the only
We often purchase pieces of equipment for our prac- bad plan is having no plan. The following are necessary
tices and hospitals that allow us to work better as clini- questions and will help you make your calculations.
cians but that are not always an easy choice in financial
terms. A new ultrasound machine, the latest toy for • How many patients per day/week do you treat that
surgery, a computed tomography scanner … We hope could benefit from LT? Remember LT is extremely
the clinical benefits of laser therapy (LT) have been versatile; unless you only see oncology and epilep-
clarified in previous pages. But what about the finan- tic patients, many of your cases are going to benefit
cial side? The truth is that if the device is well chosen from it: in general practice, probably 50–70%. Think
and used, implementing LT in your practice can help of all the post-ops, otitis, bite wounds, and degen-
you pay for the ultrasound machine much faster. The erative joint disease (DJD) patients you treat, to
versatility allows you to treat a wide variety of cases, mention just a few. Some of your past and current
whether you are in a general practice or in a sports cases probably came to your mind while you were
medicine center. About 30–40% of US practices offer reading other sections of this book.
LT among their services, and hundreds of them do so • How many of their owners would be willing to pay
in Europe. for it? You should expect at least 50%, but this will
increase to about 80%. As with any other treatment,

10.1 Make an educated choice this depends in part on how, how much, and how
fluently you and your staff talk to them about LT.
At every veterinary conference you attend these days A good implementation plan considers this. This
you will find many LT options. This market is sprout- is also related to how long you have been using LT
ing; we hope that after reading this book you will know and how familiar you are with seeing its effects and
how to distinguish between a poor laser and a high- predicting how much and how fast it will help a
quality one. Their technical differences (diodes and patient. There will come a point when you will not
wavelengths, power, pulsing, fiber durability, variety of hesitate to choose LT for a patient, in the same way
spot sizes, either adjustable or with different treatment you now have no doubt that a certain animal needs
heads, etc.) do matter, and will not just influence their an non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)
price, but also the efficacy of your treatments. The box or a particular surgical procedure.
on the next page lists the seven key points to look for. • How much would you charge for a session?
The prices of LT devices are as varied as their Remember that it does not take the same amount

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