Please review these procedures to have the right expectations from our practice and to be prepared with the information we'll need to help treat your horse. If you have any questions, please just call the above number or EMAIL US for a quick answer. Please only use email for routine questions, we do not take emergencies via email. Call the office 24 hours a day when an emergency happens.
- If you are unsure if your horse is sick or hurt it is far better to call earlier than later. We would much rather take a phone call that turns out to be nothing than get a panicked call much later when it may be too late to help.
- Know your equine. Understand if he or she is behaving differently than normal. Specifically, know the normal temperature, respirations, heart rate, eating habits, etc. This allows you to more effectively communicate with your veterinarian.
- Frontier Equine offers regularly scheduled appointments between the hours of 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday, except regular holidays and the week between Christmas and New Years. Contact the office during regular business hours to schedule an appointment.
- A "regular client" of Frontier Equine Practice is defined as someone for whom we perform all annual equine vaccinations.
- Frontier Equine offers 24 hour-a-day, 365 day-a-year emergency coverage for our regular clients. Non-clients should feel free to request assistance at any time, however regular clients will receive priority care if there are schedule conflicts. Non-clients to whom services are rendered will be charged a non-client emergency fee in addition to the call charge and emergency fee and will be expected to pay at the time of service.
- Frontier Equine accepts, cash, check, Visa, and Mastercard to pay for services in full. If a payment plan is required we are proud to offer access to no- and low-interest financing from CareCredit. All payments are due at the time of service except for clients who have significant volume of business and with whom we have specifically arranged monthly billing. FEVP understands that it is not always possible to be at the appointment, therefore we will always either leave an invoice at the place of service or mail one to you within two business days of providing service. Payment in full is due upon receipt of the invoice or a payment plan can be set up with CareCredit.
- Appointments are made with 1 hour leeway. For example, an appointment made at 9 AM means that we will arrive between 9 and 10 AM. Any change to the schedule will be communicated as soon as possible. Changes can and do occur for many medical reasons, but are typically due to emergencies that must be triaged ahead of regularly scheduled appointments. All appointments are made contingent on the need for the doctor to attend to an emergency.
- If you must cancel an appointment please notify the office as soon as possible. Appointments cancelled prior to our departure for the call will not be assessed a call charge. If a client misses an appointment we will assess the call charge, at a minimum.
- If you call and reach the answering service please clearly indicate if you belive the problem to be an emergency. The answering service pages the Doctor immediately for emergencies, and we generally call back within 15 minutes of receiving an emergency page. Non-emergency calls are returned as soon as possible, almost always by the next business day.
All emergency calls should be made with the following information in hand:
- A good description of the problem
- The animal's name and location
- A phone number that works (at the patient's location and yours, if they are not the same)
- Your name
- For a colic, the patient's heart rate, respiration rate, and temperature.
Based on this description, we may request more information, prescribe interim actions prior to our arrival, or otherwise direct care. Having this data up front greatly increases our ability to react to the situation and ultimately helps your animal.
- Any client or non-client may be placed on a cash-only basis at any time at the sole discretion of Frontier Equine Practice, LLC. Any cash-only clients will be required to remit any prior balance plus new fees at the time of service.
- Unfortunately, Frontier Equine is not a bank and can not automatically provide credit to all clients. The policy is that all fees are due at the time that services are rendered. There are many good reasons why this may not always be practical, and we are willing to work with this reality. If you would like to arrange other terms, please contact Dr. Johnson directly to make your request in advance.
- Don't leave the phone unattended while waiting for a call back. Likewise, don't make other calls on the line you give us to call you on. You would be surprised how often this happens and we can not get back in touch with the owner in an emergency situation.
- Be prepared with normal first aid equipment in the barn and your truck or trailer. See the client education section or any of numerous publications for the most important parts of a first aid kit.
- Have a clear set of directions to the patient's location available in advance of any emergency. If the house or stable number is not actually visible from the road please make sure someone or something is put out to mark the driveway.
- Know in advance if you will opt for surgical treatment, if recommended, and how you will transport your horse to the hospital if required. Know your insurance information and requirements. Consider setting up a CareCredit account in advance
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