Why you should offer wellness plans at your veterinary clinic
Wellness plans help veterinary clinics:
- Increase financial stability with high-margin recurring revenue
- Drive loyalty and attract new clients
- Enhance compliance with recommended care
Increase financial stability with high-margin recurring revenue
Wellness plans provide clinics with reliable high-margin recurring revenue. Subscription billing with auto-renewal ensures predictable cash flow and naturally promotes client retention.
If a clinic that serves 2,000 pets annually gets a conservative 26% plan adoption rate with an average plan price of $80/mo, they will generate $500k in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).
We typically drive adoption rates of 35-40% with our partners, which translates to $750k of ARR in the above example. We’ll talk about how we achieve these rates in another article.
Even though plans typically offer a 10-15% discount on plans vs. a la carte, we help our partners achieve target wellness plan margins of 25-30%. As a plan provider, you want members to use their services so they see the value in automatically renewing their membership. Nonetheless, a significant portion of members don’t use their benefits, which makes both the healthy margin and attractive discount possible.
Drive loyalty and attract new clients
With a strong value proposition to parents, coupled with subscription billing, wellness plans are a great way to maximize client retention and attraction.
To learn about the relative importance of the various value props in wellness plans, we ask parents the top reason they joined the plan. Here’s what they report:
- 46% - Have a plan for their pets' healthcare.
- 37% - Save on healthcare costs.
- 17% - Spread healthcare costs over time.
Notably, nearly half of respondents report their top reason for joining as simply having a plan; they appreciate knowing what they are supposed to do and having the accountability that comes with a plan.
“Parents don’t need to say “yes” to half a dozen services each year, just once for life. Parents appreciate that as much as care teams do."
Still, a significant majority of clients appreciate the savings and ability to pay in monthly installments with a plan. It’s a highly marketable competitive advantage, particularly if neighboring competitors don’t have a compelling wellness plan offering.
You can strategically design plans to expand your practice. For example, by including a clinical exam in your plan, you can convert someone who comes to your clinic for a clinical exam, but may have had another provider for their preventative care.
Enhance compliance with recommended care
Parents don’t need to say “yes” to half a dozen services each year, just once for life. Parents appreciate that as much as care teams do.
By making it easy for parents to say “yes” to their recommended care with wellness plans, you can effectively transform the caliber of preventative care that your pet population receives.
Creating better pet health outcomes is what led us all to the veterinary community. To do that, you need to align the objectives of so many stakeholders.
Wellness plans are a stellar example of creating win-win-wins by making it easy for vet groups, care teams, and parents to collaborate in doing something truly great for the pets in our community.
If you’re considering offering wellness plans, please reach out. We’d love to speak with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a pet wellness plan at a veterinary clinic?
A pet wellness plan is a subscription-based membership that bundles a pet's recommended preventive care, such as exams, vaccinations, and parasite prevention, into a fixed monthly payment. Instead of saying yes to individual services at each visit, pet parents enroll once and their care is covered for the year. It simplifies the client experience and ensures pets receive consistent, scheduled care.
How much revenue can wellness plans generate for a veterinary clinic?
A clinic serving 2,000 pets annually at a conservative 26% adoption rate and an average plan price of $80 per month can generate around $500,000 in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). At a 35-40% adoption rate, which Nest partners typically achieve, that same clinic reaches approximately $750,000 in ARR. Even with a 10-15% member discount built in, target margins of 25-30% are achievable.
Why do pet parents join wellness plans?
According to Nest's own client data, 46% of pet parents join a wellness plan simply to have a structured plan for their pet's healthcare. Another 37% join to save on overall costs, and 17% value the ability to spread payments over time. The top driver is accountability and clarity, not just discounts, which means a well-designed plan sells itself on the experience it creates, not just the price.
How do wellness plans improve patient compliance?
Wellness plans remove the friction of repeated purchase decisions. Instead of asking pet parents to approve six individual services across multiple visits each year, they say yes once at enrollment. That single decision covers their pet's recommended care for the year. The result is higher compliance with preventive protocols and better long-term health outcomes for the pets in your practice.
Can wellness plans help attract new clients to a veterinary clinic?
Yes. A compelling wellness plan is a marketable competitive advantage, especially if neighboring clinics don't offer one. Including a clinical exam in the plan, for example, gives you a natural way to convert clients who may have been going elsewhere for preventive care. Subscription billing also drives retention: clients who are enrolled have a financial and behavioral reason to stay with your practice year after year.
Heart + Paw built a fully personalized pet care plan program across 29 veterinary hospitals
Read how Heart + Paw built pet care plans tailored to every pet's age, health history, and lifestyle and launched them at 29 hospitals in 10 states.
Read case study“At Heart + Paw, we believe preventive care should be personalized, transparent, and designed to support healthier pets, not bundled around unnecessary services.”
29
Veterinary hospitals in 10 states
6
Pet plan tiers per location, tailored at every visit






