Abstract
Purpose. China's Pet medical industry started booming in 2005. It is much behind the US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, with only 2 decades of development. With the pet population growing at a faster rate, the existing system cannot keep up with the rapid growth. Most clinics are struggling to maintain sustainable profit growth. The study aims to identify the key factors among various elements that drive the clinic to improve the standard of care and achieve profit growth.
Theoretical Framework. The theoretical framework of the study is based on human capital theory, knowledge transfer and organizational learning theory that emphasize the unparalleled value of medical competency to propel pet healthcare development. The research incorporates medical protocols theory that uplift the clinic’s standard of care and efficiency.
Methodology. The study conducts a semi-structured interviews with 20 successful professionals from various roles within China's pet healthcare industry. Through thematic analysis method, the researcher explores feasible solutions to promote the long-term healthy development of hospitals.
Findings. This study identifies four key factors that promote the successful operation of pet hospitals based on evidence. These factors are the veterinarian’s education and continuing education, standard protocols for medical treatment and standard operation procedure (SOP) implementation, organizational learning and knowledge transfer, and the level of medical standard of care provided by the pet hospitals. The study determined that these four key factors contribute to the pet hospitals’ competitiveness and economic success.
Conclusions and Recommendations. The research recommends pet medical clinics owners to focus on higher standard of care through fostering veterinary competency, implementing protocols and operational SOP, and driving specialization to upscale clinic standard of care for long term economic growth. Additionally, the paper provides valuable insights into industry decision makers to establish the key strategies for a prosperous pet healthcare industry. Hence, the study recommends authority focus on current veterinary training curricula optimization, bridging and localizing international protocols, and advocating for clinical implementation.