MSD Animal Health Launches Keeping Britain’s Pets Healthy with first ever evidence-based guidelines for preventative health consultations
Milton Keynes, January 28, 2019 – MSD Animal Health is launching its new Keeping Britain’s Pets Healthy (KBPH) preventative healthcare initiative with the first ever set of evidence-based guidelines1 on improving the approach to the preventative healthcare consultation. The guidelines have been created following extensive research carried out in partnership with the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Nottingham. They offer a set of recommendations that aim to support and enable the veterinary practice team to implement a consistent, effective approach towards delivering improvements in preventative healthcare.
John Helps, Senior Technical Manager at MSD Animal Health comments: “Our new KBPH initiative marks a step change in our emphasis on preventative healthcare. It aims to champion the central role each member of the veterinary practice team plays as experts in educating and engaging our nation of pet lovers. These evidence-based guidelines are just the first step towards our increased emphasis on communicating the importance of the annual preventative health visit. They support the partnership between the practice and its clients around the health and welfare of their pets, and the significant contribution vaccines and parasiticides make to the health and welfare of their pets. They also help the whole team understand their specific role in the provision of preventative healthcare.”
The study offers 18 recommendations for practices to consider implementing to improve the consultation process including; the purpose of the consultation, the role of each member of the practice team, and how pet owner expectations should be addressed and communicated at the start and during the process. These strategies use the knowledge and expertise of those with the most experience in the field of preventative healthcare consultatations, namely first-opinion veterinary surgeons, as well as pet owners with experience of a number of consultations. Through this approach insights into the gaps in expectation were identified and developed into effective strategies.
John Helps adds: “The research reveals how the success of the preventative healthcare consultation is dependent on every person in the practice and their ability to communicate effectively with their clients. These strategies help make that process transparent so everyone can understand their specific role during this regular, valuable opportunity to engage clients on keeping their pets healthy.”
For further information contact your MSD Animal Health Account Manager.
1 Developing practical recommendations for preventative healthcare consultations involving dogs and cats using a Delphi technique. Natalie Robinson, Zoe Belshaw, Marnie Brennan, Rachel Dean. Vet Record (2019) 10.1136/ vr.104970 (in press).
About MSD Animal Health
For more than a century, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, is the global animal health business unit of MSD. Through its commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals®, MSD Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. MSD Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. MSD Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.msd-animal-health.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.