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 and review of medical records, policies, procedures, protocols in multiple categories of practice operations. When you see the AAHA symbol you know that such an Accredited hospital has attained and probably surpassed the highest standards organized veterinary medicine has to offer. The facilities of TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals have been AAHA-Accredited since 1986, and goes through a re-Accreditation process every 3 years to retain its standing.
The American Board of Veterinary Practitioners certifies individual veterinarians, mostly in private practice, who excel as Specialists in one of several different practices and species 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. ABVP Board-Certification is not a permanently-conferred status. Diplomates must subsequently complete a comprehensive Re-Certification process every 10 years. ABVP promotes continued improvement of individual veterinarian expertise and advancement of knowledge.
Dr. Epstein completed his ABVP Board-Certification in Canine & Feline Practice in 1993, and Dr. Hay in 1999. All TBVH clinicians are encouraged to become ABVP Diplomates.
TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals is proud to have two of the very few Board Certified specialists for dogs and cats practicing in the 14 county metro Charlotte area, indeed in North Carolina, and only a few hundred world-wide. Dr. Epstein served as president of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners 2008-9.
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.
The International Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) is an organization uniquely devoted to the promotion, enhancement, and advancement of pain control in animals. Dr. Epstein was a charter member in 2003, has achieved IVAPM’s Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner Status (CVPP) and served in its leadership including President 2009-11.
At TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals, our hospital teams consider the whole patient during every visit. You can trust us with your pet’s physical wellbeing and their emotional wellbeing too. In addition to ensuring your pet is physically healthy, we strive to keep your pet calm, comfortable, and with the least amount of stress during their visits. To do so, members of our hospital teams have taken the extra steps to earn Fear Free Certification.
Veterinary visits are a common source of anxiety in pets. The unfamiliar sounds, smells, and people can be overwhelming to our furry friends! To help your pet feel more at ease, our doctors and staff have invested time, resources, and effort to learn from the best in the veterinary field. The courses to obtain a Fear Free Certification are developed by industry-leading experts, such as prominent veterinarians, board-certified veterinary behaviorists, anesthesiologists, internists, pain experts, and experts in animal training, grooming, boarding, and shelter medicine. We are proud to learn from the best!
Members of all of our hospital teams are certified in Low Stress Handling. From these courses, members of our doctors and staff are trained in gentle handling techniques and experienced in recognizing even the most subtle signs of fear, stress, and anxiety in pets.
By being mindful of your pet’s emotional responses, we are able to transform their experience at our hospitals to be enriching, calm, and productive.
The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) established the Cat-Friendly Practice (CFP) program to encourage and facilitate good quality veterinary care for cats, and to meet the unique challenges and difficulties in bringing cats to a veterinary practice, and caring for them in a low-stress environment and manner, An extensive self-assessment checklist was designed to demonstrate that Cat Friendly Practices:
TBVH hospitals are proud to have achieved their CFP designation in 2015.
Find out how you can benefit from visiting a Cat Friendly Practice. Additional information can be found in the CFP Cat Owner Brochure.