1/28/10

As you may know, the building that houses Animal Health Associates has been around a while - it was constructed in 1947! The back end of the building has been remodeled many times, and each era has left its stamp on the building - from the orange-and-brown plaid vinyl wallpaper in the lab to the avocado linoleum in the surgery prep room. For this reason we've never been too keen on the idea of doing a virtual tour of the clinic. But one area we are really proud of is our dental suite. We have made substantial upgrades to this area since we purchased the clinic, including

- New dental station, with a piezo ultrasonic scaler and high-speed fiber-optic handpiece
- More working space
- Better lighting
- Improved staff safety equipment and protocols
- New computer and digital photography
- Upgraded monitoring equipment
- Improved care and monitoring protocols
- And now, digital dental x-rays.

With this last addition, we are now proud to say that we have a state-of-the-art dental suite! The digital system has simplified the process of taking dental x-rays; reduced our usage of processing chemicals; reduced the amount of radiation exposure for our staff and patients; and it also reduces the time your pet needs to remain under anesthesia for radiographs. The clarity of the images allows our doctors to identify dental problems in their early stages. This truly is one of those technologies that can fundamentally change the way we do things in the dental suite. Now if only I could get the staff to stop referring to "films" when taking dental shots!

See below for some photos of our dental suite.

- Jim

11/4/08

Today we have something exciting to announce; at least, from my perspective as the AHA computer evangelist. Starting shortly, we will have an increased online presence, in the form of Pet Portals. This service acts as a gateway to your pet's medical record, and our clinic. Among other things, this will allow us to provide email reminders, online appointment requests, online prescripion refills, and access to your pet's vaccination history. Pet Portals should be available before the end of November. A few months after that, we will also have an online store set up.

Please note that all of this is optional. If you do not wish to have online access to your pet's information, we won't set it up. You can still make refill requests and schedule appointments on the phone or in person, even if you sign up for a Pet Portal. The online services simply provide an option for those who prefer to use their computer for such things.

- Jim

9/12/08

If you've been in to the clinic lately, you've probably noticed that we are no longer carrying Frontline. Like many veterinarians, we've been hearing reports of reduced effectiveness of this product over time.

In light of this, we've added several new flea products to our lineup. In place of Frontline we now carry Vectra, another topical product which uses two molecules: dinotefuran, which kills adult fleas, and pyriproxyfen, an insect growth regulator that works on the other stages of the flea life cycle. Vectra is available for both dogs and cats, and the dog version is also effective against ticks and mosquitoes. Vectra also has an applicator which is designed to get the medicine way down into your pet's fur, where it is most effective.

For those who do not like to apply external flea control, we have other options. The first is Comfortis, a tablet which is given monthly. This kills adult fleas only, and because it is an internal medicine, is available by prescription only. We also have Capstar, a pill which will kill all fleas on your dog within a half hour; this is ideal if your pet has a severe flea infestation.

Because of the flea's complex life cycle - four different stages! - controlling fleas can be complex, especially if they have infested your environment. If you have questions about what is right for your situation, feel free to stop by and talk to any of our staff members. Except me; I just do the computers and bookkeeping :').

- Jim

8/6/08

I had hoped that the next entry here would be something of great weight - our complete transition to electronic records, for instance, or a new medical breakthrough. Instead, our news this month concerns a celebrity visit to our clinic. Yesterday, Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer of cable TV fame) popped in to the clinic for a brief visit. We can't say why he was in Eugene, but we can share the following snapshots of a few lucky staff members and clients.

- Jim

6/12/08

Well, this is a bit of a no-brainer; today "what's new" is the web site. But really, in a lot of ways, everything is new at AHA these days. It's been a year since my wife, Dr. Sheila Johnson, purchased the clinic, and since that time we've been in a state of constant change. We're trying to upgrade many things at once - staff training, equipment, the computer system, etc. The web site was on our original priority list, but we found many other things that needed to be done first. Now all that is behind us, and here we are.

The other big change of late is our ongoing conversion to a "paperless" medical records system. Just like human doctors, veterinarians are beginning to reap the benefits of modern technology. We've upgraded the computer system (a big fat Dell server with thin client workstations) and have installed the new software (Cornerstone, a veterinary practice management system), and now we are slowly learning how to make it all work together. The result will be less busy-work for us, and higher-quality care for your pets.

- Jim