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One thing that came up recently in the office was the discussion around AI and its possible uses for everyday life. Amazon’s recent release of their “Just Walk Out” AI stores performance and subsequent cancelling of the pick up and go experience brings to mind the question – “What can AI actually do?”

Machine learning and continual development of AI could bring better efficiency, diagnostic tools and research results within the industry. With the implementation of AI in clinics, we could see reduced workload of admin tasks, freeing up of nurse & support staff for more time to focus on patient care and customer service, as well as AI assisting vets to achieve improved patient health outcomes.

How could using AI in your clinic help with diagnosing medical cases?
Utilizing an AI’s ability to analyse vast amounts of data (e.g., patients medical history, available genetic data, known treatment responses etc..) it could help reduce the chance of an adverse reaction and assist Veterinarians with making informed decisions to achieve the most effective treatment/patient care solutions and diagnosis.

There has also been advancements with AI systems being able to assist with interpreting and analysis of medical imaging, CSIRO published a good article on the human medicine side recently.

What about the creative side of things, like advert writing or graphics for media use?
Most will have heard of or experienced by now, ChatGPT, and its ability to punch out cover letters, resumes and assignments. There is AI out there that is specifically being designed and developed for Ad Copy, Image and Video creation too. These could be a great tool for those clinics low on free time to get a written draft organised to edit for a more personalised advertisement, update & create social media banners or even generate images and organise a template for patient information handouts/printouts.

A Kookaburra tip – always check the work generated by AI, especially the free versions of AI. They might seem like a good tool but they are free for a reason. We have come across adverts with missing or completely irrelevant information for the clinic (e.g., info for different suburbs, blank sections or <insert name here> fields).

The tools being developed may still have a bit of a way to go, but the AI field is making steady progress with improvements and ironing out of bugs. Have you noticed improvements in AI-powered chatbots handling basic online inquiries lately?

From scheduling appointments and providing basic information for pet owners to analysing patient data and providing detailed suggested treatment plans, how far would you look at integrating AI in your clinic? Do you think we will see automated AI assistant surgery machines in the future? I think it’s fair to say we won’t see ChatGPT perform surgery tasks, but maybe an AI will eventually come along that could.

To sum it up, in the Veterinary industry, there are many applications and instances where AI could be used to enhance, streamline or even automate completely within clinics. Just how much we want handled by AI and how long it will take to get the AI functionality required is the question.

Interested in trying out some current AI models or seeing what is out there? Check out below!

OpenAI – ChatGPT (Test version) – https://chat.openai.com/

OpenAI – Sora (Text to Video) – https://openai.com/sora, YouTube example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK6y8DAPN_0

Microsoft Copilot – https://copilot.microsoft.com/

Adobe Firefly (Image AI) – https://www.adobe.com/au/products/firefly.html

Google Gemini – https://gemini.google.com/  / https://ai.google/

If you’re interested in what other AI are being developed you can check out this community – https://huggingface.co/, there is a free chat version as well (limited to 2 prompts as a guest) – https://huggingface.co/chat/

Author:

John Maude
Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.

HAPPINESS

This year, the veterinary shortage has continued to bite in Australia and is now affecting practices in the cities as well as rural and regional areas. The results of the Lincoln Institute survey in Australia has been in the news ( Link to SBS report) , and Kookaburra Vet Employment has been approached by multiple news outlets for interviews and comments ( link to ABC Sunshine Coast article )

A BVA (British Veterinary Association) and University of Exeter study in the UK released late in 2018 found that 37% of vets were actively thinking about leaving the profession (1,250 vets surveyed ). 59% of vets said they were either very stressed or somewhat stressed at work. A smaller Kookaburra Vet Employment survey from 2017 of just 336 vets showed that 17% of associates thought they would have left the profession in the next 5 years.

The suicide rate of vets in Australia has been found to be 4 times higher than the general population – that’s one vet every 12 weeks.

We included a question about future plans, and also a standardised question about happiness in this 2019 survey.

To download this Report as a printable pdf please click https://www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Salary-Survey-2019-part-4-Happiness.pdf

Comparing Various Subsets for Happiness

Interesting Statistically Significant differences (95% confidence level (p = .05), and >30 responses in each group)

• 30.81% of vets in non-corporate practices were ‘Very Happy’, compared to only 16.75% of vets in corporate practices
• 11.11% of vets in non-corporate practices were ‘Neither happy nor unhappy’, compared to 18.85% of vets in corporate practices
• 33.3% of male vets were ‘Very Happy’, compared to 23.9% of female vets
• 53.06% of Practice Owners were ‘Very Happy’ compared to only 21.06% of non – practice owners.

© Copyright Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

2nd September 2019

1.     On Call / After Hours Payments

In the 2017 Kookaburra Salary Survey, respondents said that they would be interested to know how vets were being paid or compensated for on call work / after hours duties, and for being ‘on call’.

To download this Report as a printable pdf please click here https://www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Salary-Survey-2019-part-3-OOH-and-Extras.pdf

% Professional Fees

69 % of respondents who told us what percentage of professional fees for after hour work they received (127 vets) got 50%. 10% of respondents got 100%. The rest varied from 10% through to 90%. There was a range of how this was calculated – some commented that this was not including GST. Others had a sliding scale depending on the type of service eg.

• 46% surgery/consult/bandaging, 23% anaesthetics, fluids.
• 75% consult fee, 100% procedure costs, 0% medications.
• 100% of professional fee. This includes consult/call out fee and surgery fee.  Does not include radiology, anaesthesia, fluid therapy, hospitalisation.
• 50 % of exam fee and professional fee only. No other percentage for professional fees- eg xrays fluids etc
• 50% of professional fees (consult, X-ray, surgery, hospitalisation)

Only one person commented that they didn’t get paid until the client had paid.

Retainer

The value of a Retainer paid for after hours work varied considerably. Some respondents commented that they ‘lost’ the retainer once they attended a call, if they were receiving additional payment or a % of fees for the call-out. The Award allowance is currently $43.64 for each 24 hour period on call.

Hourly Rate

Some vets received an hourly rate for out of hours work – possibly considering this work as ‘overtime’. The Award does actually now include guidelines for paying overtime, but it’s unclear when these rates should be applied and what the difference between out of hours calls and overtime is. Examples of comments included:

• 20% loading;
• 30% loading;
• 15% loading on base hourly rate for overnight, Friday nights. 1.5x on Saturday and Sunday. 2x on public holidays.
• Double time
• ‘same rate even if after hours’
• Government – ‘ after hours / overtime pays 1.5 -2x normal Rate’

Fee Per Call

12% of respondents received a fee per call-out. This probably varies according to the after hours consultation fee set by the practice.

16 vets gave an indication of the fee they received, and it varied from $50 to $500.

($50 ,  $60 ,  $66 ,  $100 ,  $120 ,  $125 ,  $130 ,  $140 ,  $146 ,  $150 ,  $181 ,  $185 ,  $200 ,  $215 ,  $375 ,  $500 )

Unpaid / Part of Salary

7% of respondents (14 vets) were unpaid for after hours work, or had no additional compensation because it was considered ‘part of their salary’ , ‘expected as part of the job’, ‘reasonable unpaid overtime’. We didn’t collect information about the amount of after hours work performed by these vets.

2.     Salary Package Extras

We asked what kind of extras do vets receive in their salary package – respondents could choose multiple options from a preset list, and could also add their own comments. 452 vets responded.

There was no statistical difference between the extras received by vets working in corporate practices, and vets working in non-corporate practices, apart from Vehicle or vehicle costs – only 11.54% of respondents working in corporate practices received vehicle benefits compared to 24.07 % of respondents working in non-corporate practices.

When comparing vets classified as Full Time compared to Part Time, vets working in a full time vacancy were more likely to receive Board registration, AVA membership, and Vehicle costs.

Female Vets were more likely to receive Parental leave (11.11%) compared to Male Vets (5.08%)

We asked for extra information, and for information about any other types of benefits received, and this included the following:

• Some vets receive a monetary allowance per year, to be spent on CE or other appropriate bills, ranging from $1000 to $2000 per year
• Massage/acupuncture
• VIN membership – this was commonly mentioned
• CVE membership
• AVA interest group memberships (ASAVA, EVA etc )
• VDA membership
• VECCS membership (Vet Emergency & Critical Care Society), Vetstream,
• Beer
• Christmas bonus
• Extra Superannuation (above 9.5%) and option for salary sacrifice
• Mobile phone or phone allowance
• Extra holiday (in addition to 4 weeks standard leave)
• Parking discount, Tollway tag
• Pet Insurance, pet health care plan
• Clothing allowance
• Insurances – Income Protection, Professional Indemnity,
• Radiation License
• Rostered days off
• Sponsored Visa

© Copyright Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

2nd September 2019