Episode 7: How to Set Veterinary Prices

Pet owners spent over $140 billion on their animals last year. Veterinary revenue is up 40% since 2019. And yet practice profit margins just hit a 10-year low. Patient visits are down. Labor is consuming 40–50 cents of every dollar before you pay for a single drug or a square foot of rent. Something is structurally wrong — and it is not the demand side.The problem is pricing. Not volume.In this episode, John Younker, DVM, MBA breaks down exactly how to price everything in a veterinary practice — pharmacy, preventatives, labs, services, and surgery — using a math-based framework that works whether you are a first-year startup or a ten-doctor hospital. No guessing. No copying the clinic down the street. A system built from the ground up on what your specific practice actually needs to generate to stay financially healthy.You will learn: — Why the "parking meter" mental model changes how you think about every service you perform — The four economic zones of a veterinary practice and why each one prices differently — The exact multipliers and fees for oral meds, injectables, preventatives, labs, and OTC items — and the math behind each one — How to calculate your DVM and tech per-minute revenue targets from your own revenue goal — Why "shopped" services like exams and vaccines price differently than "unshopped" services like surgery and diagnostics — The most common surgery pricing mistake that costs practices thousands of dollars per procedure — How to start fixing your fee schedule this week without overhauling everything at onceIf you have ever shaved an estimate before the client saw it, guessed at a procedure fee, or charged the same thing you charged three years ago — this episode is for you.00:00 Revenue Up, Visits Flat — the paradox nobody is talking about01:14 The Profit Squeeze — how margins hit a 10-year low02:23 The Pricing Problem — why most fee schedules are just guesses04:24 The Parking Meter — what your practice costs per minute to operate07:00 Discounting and Cross-Subsidy — what happens when one service covers another's losses09:24 The Four Economic Zones — pharmacy, labs, services, and surgery09:58 Pharmacy Pricing Math — the framework that applies to every drug you dispense10:44 Oral Medications — the 2x multiplier and why the dispensing fee is not optional14:06 Injectables — why the 2.5x multiplier exists and what the admin fee is really for17:16 Preventatives — the Chewy problem and why matching market price is a strategy, not a concession20:04 Lab Pricing — the Three Tolls framework for in-house and reference lab fees24:21 Diagnostics — where your pricing power actually lives25:28 Service Pricing — the hardest category to price and why25:50 The Profit Pie — industry benchmarks for where every dollar should go26:51 Billable Minutes Math — how to calculate your true revenue-producing minutes27:50 DVM vs. Hospital Revenue — why not all revenue comes from the doctor29:38 The DVM Minute Multiplier — where 7.5x comes from and what it actually means31:15 Tech Minute Pricing — why the tech rate is lower and what it carries32:10 Service Fee Example — putting the per-minute framework into practice33:33 Shopped vs. Un-shopped Services — how to use market pricing without undercutting your math37:00 Surgery Hidden Costs — the line items most practices forget to charge39:54 Surgery Example — building a surgery invoice from the ground up42:06 Multi-Doctor Adjustments — how the framework scales beyond a solo practice43:19 Phased Fee Schedule Fix — where to start and what to do this week45:35 The Math-Driven Mindset — why pricing is a clinical decision, not a sales decision46:23 The Future of Vet Pricing — low-cost clinics, at-home diagnostics, and what's coming47:45 Final Wrap-Up