I just dropped two cats off at my vet to get fixed. They’re a good vet and one of the few in my area that actually fixes animals. Most have just stopped, which is making the unwanted animal problem much worse, but they still do some things that bug me. It’s minor stuff, granted, but today, it really started to eat at me.

So let’s talk about it.

Now like I said, this is really, really minor, but I just watch it happen and then can’t understand how they can’t see the problem, just from a basic fiscal standpoint. When you walk in the door, they have a clipboard that you’re supposed to sign in on. No problem. They have room for probably 15-20 people to sign in, I never counted, but the second anyone signs in and sits down, they rush over, grab that sheet and take it back to grab files and all of that.

Okay, that’s understandable, but then they throw that sheet away and the next person who walks in the door, they put their name on the next sheet and the same thing happens. It’s a massive waste of resources, especially over time. I have no idea how many hundreds and hundreds of pieces of paper they just throw away, almost entirely blank, over a year. Thousands probably. That not only goes into a landfill, but it costs money and that money has to come from somewhere. Mostly, the pockets of the patients.

Yet that’s not the only example. When the doctors bring files from the back, they have a bunch of little notes. They grab one, write down whatever they want, then paper-clip it to the file and throw it into the tray. Sure, I get that, the people up front have to get information or enter things into the computers. However, they do that even if they are standing right there at the computer! They do it if they are explaining what they want the receptionists to do! They will explain something, and it’s nothing complex, often just “make another appointment next week”, hand the file directly to the receptionist who then goes straight to the computer, if they weren’t standing there already, and enter that information, then they take the note and throw it away.

Why?!?!?!?

That goes for the front too. They have their own little set of notes that they scribble and hand to the doctors, or put in the tray for the doctors to pick up. Yes, if it’s just going to sit there, then by all means, write a note, but they will tell the doctor directly, while writing the exact same thing down, paper-clipping it to the file and then the doctor probably goes in the back and just throws it away.

This really bothers me. I, having owned businesses and having run them for pretty much my entire life, I know that all of these little things add up. Every unnecessary cost harms the bottom line. Now I’m sure they don’t even know they’re doing it, but I, as a complete outsider, can see it in seconds. I don’t know if I should say something because their system clearly works for them and they don’t care what I say, but they could run a much more efficient ship if they’d just stop and think about what they’re doing a hundred times a day and realize that there is a better way.

Anyhow, I just wanted to rant. I’ve got a couple of hours until I have to go pick up the cats.