Page 62 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

46 Tasks for the Veterinary Assistant

important that when products are used or opened, each
Reflections tablet or milliteter dispensed, every roll of tape and
syringe used is deducted from the inventory. Some
• Why is it important that different people are clinics will allow staff to remove items from the inventory,
involved in taking care of the money at the end such as when they take a roll of tape or open a bag of
of the day? food it is marked in the inventory. Others will have you
• Why should one person be in charge of making indicate this on a whiteboard or notebook and the
sure the doors are locked and everyone has left inventory control person takes it off the inventory. The
the building? computer will also deduct inventory as it is dispensed to
clients. For example, if the veterinarian prescribes a
bottle of amoxicillin, the computer will deduct it from
inventory once the visit list is generated.
Most clinics will carry out a physical inventory once a
Inventory Control year of the “disposable” goods. This entails counting
everything that is used to treat, test, or perform proce­
The largest non‐wage expense for a veterinary clinic is dures upon patients. This accounting is compared with
inventory. Inventory is everything inside a clinic that isn’t the previous year’s and can tell the practice owner if the
a wall! It is the goods required to medicate, run tests, inventory control is making money, paying for itself, or
take radiographs, perform procedures, and to feed and losing money. You may be asked to help do inventory
care for hospitalized patients. It is the equipment and will usually be given a form that either has the prod­
required for procedures, like surgery tables, otoscopes, uct list with the size, strength, number/container,
and instruments. It is cleaning and office supplies, recep­ already marked on the page or you fill in the lines as you
tion area furniture, chairs, desks, and computers. This is come across the products.
a huge outlay of money and the only way to pay for it is Most clinics have inventory gathered into areas within
to have clients! The reason to have inventory is to take the facility. There may be a storage room for food, ban­
care of patients. The more clients you have, the more dage materials, syringes, needles, source bottles for
inventory must be on hand and in good working cleaners or alcohol, and so on. The medications are usu­
condition. Inventory control is a fine balance between ally kept in a pharmacy area, laboratory supplies in the
having enough on hand to meet needs and having too lab, radiography supplies in the radiography room, sur­
much on hand that it becomes outdated before it can be gical supplies in the surgery room, and so on. The trick
used and the products tie up cash flow that could have is to learn where everything is kept so that a thorough
been invested. count can be executed.
Management software includes an inventory section. Note how the columns in Table 3.3 include:
This has automated the process to the point where in a
few clicks the office manager, inventory manager, or • Quantity – this is the number of items on hand.
owner can determine where the inventory is as far as There are several ways to mark this depending on the
amounts on premises, dollars tied up in inventory, what item: 1 could stand for 1 bottle, 1 box, or 5 tablets, so
items are ordered numerous times per year, month, or always quantify the quantity. It will depend on how
week, and what items are sitting on a shelf taking up you mark size/container or #/box columns.
valuable space. Therefore, one or two people are • Item is the name of the product, some will also ask
designated to control the inventory. Any more than that for the manufacturer.
and mistakes occur, cost the clinic money, or cost an • Strength/concentration is marked as mg/capsule or
animal its life. tablet, %, mg/mL, and so on.
The key to having this work well is making sure all the • Size/container – this is gallons, quarts, mL, 500 tabs/
products ordered are entered correctly. It is equally bottle, g, and so on.

TABLE 3.3
Inventory Pages
Quantity Item Size/Container Strength/Concentration #/Box
6 btls Isopropyl alcohol Gallon 70% 4/box
½ btl Carprofen 250/bottle 75 mg/tablet
2 bxs Artificial tears ointment 25 g/tube 12/box
8.5 bxs Syringes 3 mL slip tip 100/box