Updated April, 2010

Program Overview and Summary of Research Methodology

Five Star Professional contracts a third party research firm, QMI Research, to conduct the Five Star Veterinarian research methodology using objective market research methods. The intent of the research is to develop a list of veterinarians in a given market who score highest in overall satisfaction, based on an objective market research methodology that takes into account client evaluations (C) in ten categories, with adjustments to reflect inputs from peers (Padj), regulatory compliance reviews (Radj), and Blue Ribbon Panel reviews (BRPadj). The foregoing can be expressed as:

Overall Score = C – Padj – Radj +/– BRPadj

QMI Research administers a survey, by phone, to 30,000 small pet owners and, by mail, to all identified veterinarians in the market area. Each client respondent is asked to evaluate only veterinarians whom they have worked with and each peer veterinarian respondent is asked to evaluate only veterinarians who they know through personal experience. Both client and peer respondents evaluate veterinarians based upon ten criteria: rapport/friendliness, knowledge/experience, friendliness of staff, quality of service, quality of facility, emergency care, convenient location, availability and ease of scheduling, value for fee charged and overall satisfaction. Each respondent may evaluate up to three veterinarians.

After the evaluation surveys are received, each veterinarian is given a Client Score and a Peer Adjustment Score. Both favorable and unfavorable evaluations are incorporated. Safeguards are in place to eliminate any bias including; self-nominating, “back-scratching,” and “stuffing the ballot.”

Each veterinarian is reviewed for regulatory/disciplinary action as reported by the state veterinarian board and other regulatory agencies, and given a Regulatory Adjustment Score. In order to be named a Five Star Veterinarian, a veterinarian must be licensed with the state board and be in good standing.

QMI Research then prepares a preliminary list of results for review by a company-selected panel (Blue Ribbon Panel) of local industry professionals. The Blue Ribbon Panel reviews each veterinarian appearing on the preliminary list. As part of their review and evaluation, panelists are able to recommend additional veterinarians for inclusion and to recommend veterinarians for removal from the preliminary list (based on objective criteria). Checks and balances are in place to avoid conflicts of interest; specifically, panelists remain anonymous, only receive a portion of the preliminary list and, in most cases, cannot add or remove a veterinarian by themselves.

After review by the Blue Ribbon Panel, QMI Research determines each veterinarian’s Overall Score. The Overall Score is calculated using the following formula:

Overall Score = C – Padj – Radj +/– BRPadj

Where:

C = Client Score, a statistically valid, objective measure of client responses

Padj = Peer Adjustment, an objective measure of peer feedback

Radj = Regulatory Adjustment, an objective measure of regulatory history

BRPadj = Blue Ribbon Panel Adjustment, an objective analysis of comments received from a panel of local experts.

The final list is set by sorting the veterinarians by their Overall Score in descending order. The Cutoff Score is determined to be the point where the number of Overall Scores that exceed the Cutoff Score is equal to or less than 150 veterinarians. Those veterinarians with an Overall Score equal to or greater than the Cutoff Score are included on the qualifying Five Star Veterinarian list.

QMI Research then sends a notification letter and business contact confirmation form to the qualifying Five Star Veterinarians. Within the business contact confirmation form, the veterinarian is asked to certify that their license has never been suspended or revoked by a regulating authority. Veterinarians that are unable or unwilling to verify contact information or to provide the required certifications are excluded from the final list. Veterinarians are required to fax back their completed business contact confirmation form to Five Star Professional to be listed.

Once the list is finalized, the partnering city/regional magazine will publish an article, prepared by Five Star Professional, which describes the evaluation process and presents the resulting list of Five Star Veterinarians. The Program is not administered in the same market more often than once each year.

Veterinarians do not pay a fee to be included in the evaluation process or to be named as a Five Star Veterinarian. In connection with publication of the article, veterinarians may elect to pay a fee to include a photo and certain profile information in the “profiles” section that accompanies the article. For additional fees, Five Star Professional will (i) provide reprints of the section article and (ii) provide the veterinarian with strategies for further publicizing being named as a Five Star Veterinarian. A veterinarian’s purchase of a profile, reprints or company services does not influence Five Star Professional’s determination whether or not to include or exclude a particular veterinarian from a later list of Five Star Veterinarians.

Please remember the final list identifies precisely what the evaluation process is designed to do:

		it identifies those veterinarians who scored highest in overall satisfaction, of those veterinarians evaluated;

		based on extensive surveying of pet owners and veterinarians on ten client satisfaction criteria;

		based on our review of regulatory history;

		and review of the list by a Blue Ribbon Panel of industry experts.

Research Declarations:

The list is not intended to be exhaustive – in fact the section article within the magazine will state:

	“Although this list will certainly be a useful tool for anyone looking for a veterinarian it should not be considered exhaustive. Undoubtedly, there are many other excellent veterinarians who, for one reason or another, are not on this year’s list. But don’t be surprised to see them next year.”

The following additional declarations are included in the section article:

		Five Star Veterinarians do not pay a fee to be included in the research or the final list of Five Star Veterinarians.

		The overall evaluation score of a veterinarian reflects an average of all respondents and may not be representative of any one client’s experience.

		The Five Star Award is not indicative of the veterinarian’s future performance.

		The inclusion of a veterinarian on the Five Star Veterinarian list should not be construed as an endorsement of the veterinarian by Five Star Professional or the Magazine.