Veterinary clinic org chart example
A companion-animal hospital of about twenty, drawn around the split every practice runs on: the veterinarians are responsible for the medicine and for the credentialed staff who deliver it, and the practice manager is responsible for everything that makes the day happen, the schedule, the front desk, the inventory, the boarding kennel. The technicians live on both sides of that line, and the chart says so.
How a veterinary clinic is usually structured
A veterinary practice has a medical line and a business line, and the owner sits over both because she is the one whose license the practice runs on. The medical line is the doctors and the people who work under their direction: credentialed technicians, assistants, the extern from the technician program. The business line is the practice manager's: client service at the front desk, billing and the insurance claims that a growing share of clients now file, inventory and the pharmacy, which is the second-largest cost in the building after payroll, and the boarding kennel, which is a small business of its own inside the hospital.
Associate veterinarians are drawn as doctors, not as managers: each runs her exam rooms and her cases, and neither manages the technicians, who belong to the lead technician. The relief veterinarian who covers days off is a contractor, on the chart because she sees patients and off the payroll because she is not employed, and a practice that hides her looks like it never closes. The lead technician reports to the owner for the medicine and carries a dotted line to the practice manager for the schedule, which is the same arrangement a dental practice draws for hygiene and for the same reason: an empty appointment slot is a business problem before it is a clinical one.
Boarding and grooming are the two services clients buy without seeing a doctor, and the chart places them accordingly. The kennel lead and the attendants report to the practice manager, because boarding is a schedule, a price list and a cleaning rota, and carry a dotted line to the lead technician, because a boarded animal that stops eating is a medical question within the hour. The groomer is a contractor under the manager, renting the room and the client list. The bookkeeper is a contractor too, as at most practices this size, and the open technician role is drawn where it will sit, because it is the hire the practice makes next.
Typical titles by level
The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.
| Level | Titles you'll see |
|---|---|
| Doctors | Owner Veterinarian, Practice Owner, Medical Director (in a group), Associate Veterinarian; relief veterinarians and visiting specialists (as contractors) |
| Management and leads | Practice Manager, Hospital Administrator, Regional Manager (in a corporate group), Lead Veterinary Technician, Head Nurse, Kennel & Boarding Lead, Client Service Lead |
| Medical team | Credentialed Veterinary Technician, Veterinary Assistant, Surgery Technician, Veterinary Technician Extern (as an intern) |
| Front office, boarding and outside | Client Service Representative, Billing & Insurance Coordinator, Inventory & Pharmacy Coordinator, Kennel Attendant; groomer, bookkeeper, laboratory and IT firms (as contractors) |
Where these charts go wrong
Veterinary charts go wrong by drawing an associate as the manager of the technicians; by putting the lead technician under the practice manager with no line to the doctors, or under the doctors with no line to the schedule; by leaving the relief vet off, so the practice appears to run on two doctors seven days a week; by burying inventory in reception, where the second-largest cost in the building has no owner; by drawing boarding as a ward instead of a service; and by giving the owner every one of twenty people as a direct report, which is the chart of a veterinarian who no longer sees patients.
Questions people ask
- How is a veterinary clinic structured?
- An owner veterinarian over two lines: the medical line, meaning associate veterinarians who run their own rooms and a lead technician over the technicians, assistants and any extern; and the business line, meaning a practice manager over client service, billing and insurance, inventory, boarding and the contractors, the groomer and the bookkeeper. A relief veterinarian is a contractor under the owner. Below about eight people the owner is also the practice manager; draw the manager's line anyway, because it is the first hire the practice makes when it grows.
- Who do veterinary technicians report to?
- To a lead technician who reports to the owner veterinarian for the medicine, with a dotted line to the practice manager for the schedule. Technicians work under a veterinarian's direction because their credentials require it, and they work the hours the manager sets because the appointment book is the business. Draw both lines; a practice that draws one is arguing about the other.
- Should the relief veterinarian be on the org chart?
- Yes, as a contractor under the owner. A relief vet who covers one day a week sees a real share of the patients, and a chart that leaves her off shows two doctors covering seven days, which is how the schedule gets planned wrong. Mark her as a contractor so nobody reads her as an employee, and keep her on the chart so everybody knows who is on Thursdays.
- Where does boarding fit in a veterinary practice?
- Under the practice manager, as a service with a lead and attendants, with a dotted line to the lead technician for the animal that needs a doctor. Boarding is a schedule and a price list, which is the manager's work; the medical oversight is a line, not a reporting relationship. Drawn under the doctors it becomes a ward and stops being priced like a service.
Other industries
- ManufacturingTwo shifts, and quality kept out of production's line.
- LogisticsDispatch runs the day; supervisors run the people.
- ConstructionOffice and field, meeting on every project.
- Software startupSquads under a CTO; product managers on a dotted line.
- NonprofitThe board on top, programs beside the money.
- Medical practiceA clinical line and a business line, crossing at nursing.
- SchoolDepartments led by teachers who also manage.
- HotelSix divisions around one general manager.
- Marketing agencyDisciplines own people; pods own the work.
- Security & facilities servicesSites stacked under supervisors; a 24-hour control room.
- Sales teamRegions for closers, a team for openers, RevOps beside them.
- Accounting firmA partner pyramid, three service lines.
- Law firmPractice groups, and the business side that runs the firm.
- ChurchA board that governs, a pastor who leads, ministries below.
- RestaurantFront of house and back of house, meeting at the pass.
- IT departmentRun, build and secure, under one director.
- HR departmentPartners, specialists and operations: the three legs.
- Local governmentElected above appointed, and two officers who answer to the council.
- Utility companyField crews, a 24-hour control center, and a regulator in the room.
- BankThree lines of defense, drawn as lines.
- Staffing agencySales desks, recruiting desks, and a back office that pays two thousand people.
- HospitalTwo hierarchies that meet at the bedside.
- Retail chainHead office, the field, and a store drawn once.
- Small businessOne owner, two managers, and the jobs the owner still does.
- Finance departmentAccounting closes the books; FP&A says what they mean.
- Marketing departmentDemand, product, brand, and the operations under all three.
- Customer service departmentTeams on the floor; quality, training and scheduling beside them.
- Engineering departmentProduct teams under a VP of engineering; platform, data and security under the CTO.
- Operations departmentSupply chain, fulfillment and the functions that keep both honest.
- Product departmentProduct, design, research and the operations that measure them.
- Consulting firmThree practices, one firm behind them, and no engagement on the chart.
- Real estate brokerageAgents who are not employees, on the chart anyway.
- Insurance agencySales on one side, service on the other, and the lines where they meet.
- Dental practiceA clinical line the law draws, and a business line the office manager runs.
- UniversityAn academic line and an administrative line, and governance kept off the chart.
- E-commerce companyThe site is the store, the warehouse is a contractor, and the lines between them are drawn.
- Auto dealershipThe front end sells the cars; the back end pays the bills; the chart shows where they meet.
- School districtSchools on one line, the money on another, and a board that governs from a second chart.
- Police departmentPatrol takes the calls, investigations takes the cases, and professional standards answers to the chief alone.
- Nursing homeThe administrator holds the license, the director of nursing holds the building, and the survey reads both lines.
- Property management companyThe owners and the boards are clients, the site staff are employees, and the chart is where the two facts meet.
Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet. The guides cover a reorg, a merger, an assistant's chart and a consultant's deliverable.
Make it yours
Download the spreadsheet, replace the names, import it — the chart redraws itself. Or start empty and drag people until it's true. Building is free at any size.