My mom and step-dad have run a small veterinary clinic for the last 20+ years, they recently sold to one of these companies for a lot of money because mom was completely burnt out and wanted to retire. Step dad agreed to continue working for 3 more years though to ensure a smooth transition, mom worked for an additional 6 months and very recently retired.
They both despise the company. Before selling they were not beholden to any boss or investors, and worked hard to do the best for their clients and their pets. Now they're forced to use systems they have no control over. People can schedule appointments online through a system they don't manage, which means they could end up needing to euthanize an animal that they've known for 15 years at 9 in the morning, and then 5 minutes later have to pretend they're completely ok and happy to accommodate a new client with their new puppy. Step dad says it makes him feel like a psychopath.
They also take issue with the fact that there's no screening of the appointments that are scheduled. To test it, he scheduled an appointment to a nearby hospital on the same network with the description (and I apologize for the morbidity, keep in mind this didn't really happen and he just was making a point), "Garage door was accidentally shut on my dog's head and severed it. Can you please reattach it." It was approved and apparently nobody noticed it until an hour before the appointment was supposed to happen.
On top of that, now he's started dealing with corporate politics that he's never encountered before, and he says he's worried there will come a day that he just loses all motivation to go to work.
They both despise the company. Before selling they were not beholden to any boss or investors, and worked hard to do the best for their clients and their pets. Now they're forced to use systems they have no control over. People can schedule appointments online through a system they don't manage, which means they could end up needing to euthanize an animal that they've known for 15 years at 9 in the morning, and then 5 minutes later have to pretend they're completely ok and happy to accommodate a new client with their new puppy. Step dad says it makes him feel like a psychopath.
They also take issue with the fact that there's no screening of the appointments that are scheduled. To test it, he scheduled an appointment to a nearby hospital on the same network with the description (and I apologize for the morbidity, keep in mind this didn't really happen and he just was making a point), "Garage door was accidentally shut on my dog's head and severed it. Can you please reattach it." It was approved and apparently nobody noticed it until an hour before the appointment was supposed to happen.
On top of that, now he's started dealing with corporate politics that he's never encountered before, and he says he's worried there will come a day that he just loses all motivation to go to work.