A veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) is like a football team’s game plan. “Like football, you need to make sure everybody knows the play and runs the play,” Dr. Dave Rhoda explains. “With the VCPR team, you need to make sure everybody understands what you are doing and does it. If someone comes up with a better way, you may change the play.”
Rhoda is a veterinarian and former chairman of the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association’s residue task force. He continues to be involved with developing the VCPR, which is the tool that allows the veterinarian to prescribe the way animals will be handled when they are not present, with the objectives of upholding food safety and appropriate drug use. It enables the veterinarian to put together protocols that others on the farm team can follow in their absence when common, recognizable conditions arise. These messages must be communicated through herdsmen and supervisors, as well as the people working directly with cattle.
Rhoda reinforces that the owner maintains the ultimate responsibility and liability for ensuring this happens.
“The owner is the key piece,” he says. “Their key role is making sure they have assigned responsibilities and roles and to make sure these roles are communicated.”
Therefore, it is the owner’s duty to declare a Veterinarian of Record. The Veterinarian of Record takes authority and guides the process of making medical decisions such as establishing treatment protocols, training personnel, reviewing treatment records, monitoring drug inventories and assuring appropriate drug labeling and use.
Record keeping is the key component to verifying whether or not the protocols established by the veterinarian were followed.
“The execution of this [VCPR] comes back to having records. True records tell you if there is consistency of care, competency of care and compliance with what you want,” he states. “It is the tool that allows the owner to know that what he wants to happen is actually happening.”
What is an owner to do if they find that their plans are not being followed? Rhoda recommends first determining if the breach of protocol is an individual problem or a breakdown of communication. If someone working on the dairy simply does not want to follow the plan, then it is up to the owner to fix that. “They have the option to do the job right, or the owner can find someone else for the job,” he adds.
However, Rhoda firmly believes that most employees want to do a good job, and lack of communication is likely the culprit when things don’t go right.
“If something goes wrong, it is usually lack of communication,” he notes.
Communication among the VCPR team can take place when all of the players are sitting around a table together, but in some circumstances, that is not possible. Dairies with animals at multiple locations – sometimes even in different states – must make VCPR team communication a priority. In today’s world of technology, email, phone, clouds and live chatting can all be useful correspondence tools to bring the team together.
Rhoda adds, “There is no right or wrong way to do it, as long as communication is happening.” PD
Do you have a VCPR for your dairy? Have you declared a Veterinarian of Record? To learn more, refer to the American Association of Bovine Practitioners guidelines. (PDF, 71 KB)
