The American Animal Hospital Association is a voluntary organization to which only about 15% of veterinary hospitals belong.

Its mission is to enhance the abilities of veterinarians to provide quality medical care to companion animals; to enable veterinarians to successfully conduct their practices and maintain their facilities with high standards of excellence; and to meet the public's needs as they relate to the delivery of small animal veterinary medicine.

Member hospitals voluntarily submit themselves to periodic, vigorous inspections of facilities, medical records, policies and procedures. When you see the AAHA symbol you know that such a certified hospital has attained and robably surpassed the highest standards organized veterinary medicine has to offer. The facilities of TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals have been AAHA-certified since 1986, and most recently re-certified in 2006.

http://www.healthypet.com

The American Board of Veterinary Practitioners certifies individual veterinarians, mostly in private practice, who excel as specialists in one of several different practice categories. It recognizes these clinicians as qualified to fill a unique and specific functional role in the delivery of modern comprehensive veterinary services.

In order to achieve Diplomate status, a veterinarian must work through a rigorous multi-year process of application, continuing education, study, writing, and testing. By self-assessment, examination, and re-certification, The ABVP promotes continued improvement of practice standards and advancement of knowledge.

Dr. Epstein completed his ABVP board-certification in Canine & Feline Practice in 1993. Dr. Carnevale did so in 1997, and Dr. Hay in 1999. Each of these doctors must undergo a rigorous re-certification process every 7-10 years.

TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals is proud to have three of the six Board Certified specialists for dogs and cats practicing in the 14 county metro Charlotte area, 9 in North Carolina, and only 435 world-wide.  Dr. Epstein will serve as president of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners 2008-9.

www.abvp.com

In April of 1996, TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals (then Veterinary HealthCare Associates) was honored with the coveted designation PRACTICE OF EXCELLENCE from Veterinary Economics magazine. Veterinary Economics is one of the most widely read trade publications within the veterinary profession, as it deals with everything from client service to hospital management and much in between. Its Practice of Excellence program seeks out practices that provide exemplary client service and excellent medical care, that features strong personnel programs and successful practice management, and that wants to strengthen the profession by sharing what works. The magazine solicits applications from private veterinary practices all over the United States and Canada. The application requests detailed, comprehensive information about a practice's operation, from its philosophy of practice to its delivery of medical care and client communication, from its management infrastructure to the quality and training of its employees, from its medical records to its emphasis on continuing education. Indeed, the application from our practice amounted to a document three centimeters thick. Each year a small handful of practices are chosen among the several thousand currently operating to be designated as a PRACTICE OF EXCELLENCE, and we at TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals hold this to be one of the highest honors a private practice can achieve .

http://www.vetmedpub.com/ve/poe/index.html

The International Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) is a organization uniquely devoted to the promotion, enhancement, and advancement of pain control in animals.  Dr. Epstein was a charter member in 2003, worked on its organizational Task Force during 2004, and in November 2007 became President-elect.

www.ivapm.org