Practice Certification takes Fear Free implementation to the next level – from an individual to a joint effort that requires the entire practice team to work together to safeguard the emotional wellbeing of their patients, clients and team members. Fear Free Certified® Practices will represent the pinnacle of care in the industry and will be highly sought-after by pet owners who are realizing the importance of emotional wellness for their pets.
Certified Practices will have successfully implemented Fear Free into all aspects of their business. To meet this level of commitment and implementation, practices must measure up to the Fear Free Practice Certification Standards. Mandatory standards are pass/fail; optional standards are weighted, and the practice must achieve a minimum score to pass each category. Once a practice has successfully completed their online self-assessment of the standards, an onsite visit will be scheduled with a Fear Free Practice Certification Veterinarian. The results will be submitted to Fear Free for review and final determination of pass or fail.
Find out more about certifying your practice below!
Note: At this time, Practice Certification is available only in the US and Canada. We encourage our international professionals to seek individual certification and keep their certification status active by renewing and continuing to take advantage of our ongoing CE offerings.
Note: Only Group Leaders have access to the Practice Certification process.
After logging in to your account, access the Practice Certification Application by navigating to Veterinary Professionals > About > Practice Certification. Verify your pre-populated information and download the .csv file. Enter your entire employee roster into the .csv file, noting the instructions at the top left. When completed, upload the file, acknowledge the Terms & Conditions, and submit. Your application will be reviewed by Fear Free within 2 business days and you will be notified via email of its acceptance or if any changes are needed.
When your application is accepted, you will receive an email with a link to register for Practice Certification. When you register, you will pay the $500 deposit that will be applied to your total Practice Certification cost. Registering gives you access to the online self-assessment via the Practice Certification Dashboard.
Practices will have a 90-day grace period between the time of registration and the submission of the online self-assessment (Step 3) in that, if during those 90 days any of the 25% of certified staff’s membership(s) required to be eligible for Practice Certification expire, it will not affect the eligibility for Practice Certification. Additionally, if any of the aforementioned 25% staff have left the practice, they do not need to be replaced by another certified and active team member.
If a practice submits a self-assessment more than 90 days after registering and any of the aforementioned 25% of certified staff’s membership(s) have expired, the membership(s) must be renewed. Additionally, if any of the aforementioned 25% staff have left the practice, they must be replaced by another certified and active team member.
The Dashboard houses the standards and supporting examples for practice certification. When you have completed your self-assessment, as indicated by your progress bars turning green, submit it for review.
Fear Free will review your self-assessment within 3 business days. You will be notified if any clarifications need to be made via email and a call with the Practice Certification Manager will be scheduled. Self-assessments must be approved by Fear Free before an onsite visit can be scheduled.
On the first Friday after your self-assessment has been approved, you will receive email notification with at least 3 days to choose from to schedule your onsite visit. You have until the following Tuesday to select a date. You will receive a call from your Practice Certification Veterinarian (PCV) within 7 business days following your selection. The visit should take 2-4 hours.
Your PCV will need someone to accompany him/her throughout the visit, observe at least 2 patient visits, review at least 3 patient medical records, and may take photos to help support scoring of your standards. After your onsite visit, you will be notified within 3 business days if you can now call yourself a Fear Free Certified® Practice!
To be eligible for Practice Certification, the following requirements must be met:
All team members of a Fear Free Certified® Practice are awarded a Fear Free Practice Certification Membership, which includes:
Other benefits:
Annual renewal is required in order to keep a practice’s certification status active. Renewal will include:
To be eligible for practice certification, a minimum of 25% of your entire staff must be Fear Free Certified® and have active (not expired) memberships. The 25% must include 100% of your leadership/management team and 50% + 1 of your FTE veterinarians. (See FAQ below for additional details)
Check out these easy-to-follow guides to further understand Practice Certification eligibility and the process of becoming a Fear Free Certified Practice.
Standards are divided into various categories. Some categories include mandatory as well as optional standards; while others include only optional or only mandatory standards.
Categories
Plus $200 per FTE veterinarian
Includes base rate
Fees are due annually; proof of % of staff certified plus number of FTE veterinarians on staff are required at time of renewal.
Costs include the on-site visit of a Fear Free consultant. An on-site visit will be required at the time of initial certification, and every three years thereafter.
Since we embraced Fear Free in every aspect of our practice, we have not only seen our client base increase, but our repeat customers, overall satisfaction rate, and maybe most importantly, our staff satisfaction rate. . . If anyone asked me what one thing they could do right now to improve their practice, it would absolutely be starting down the road towards Fear Free Practice Certification.
Learn more about Practice Certification, standards, and best practices for achieving this coveted designation from our resident expert, Dr. Rachel Abrams.
Yes! When you are logged in, you can download the standards from the Practice Certification page. You can also download the Practice Certification Supporting Examples & Resources PDF and view the Terms & Conditions. If you do not have an active Fear Free membership, please email your request to wags@fearfreepets.com.
No. To be eligible for Practice Certification, a minimum of 25% of your team must be certified and have an active membership. The 25% must include 100% of your managers/leadership team and 50%+1 of your FTE veterinarians. An FTE employee is defined as working an average of > 35 hours per week.
Having a minimum of 25% of your team (which must include 100% of your managers/leadership team and 50%+1 of your FTE veterinarians) is just the first step to becoming a Fear Free Certified Practice. Practices are required to implement ~50 standards and successfully complete an onsite visit with a Practice Certification Veterinarian to earn practice certification. For additional details about eligibility requirements, click HERE.
Team members are considered to be Fear Free Certified® when they have completed the Fear Free Certification Program. Your team is strongly encouraged to take advantage of the complimentary CE courses, such as Module 8: An Implementation Guide for Leaders, webinars, and podcasts included in their individual memberships.
An active membership is not expired. If you can not access the website, you do not have an active membership. Group Leaders can check their team members’ expiration dates via the EXP DATE column in their Manage My Team page.
Fear Free will round up any non-whole numbers. A practice with 15 team members would need a minimum of 4 team members to be Fear Free Certified® and have active memberships.
15/4= 3.75, round up to 4.
If a practice has a large leadership team (e.g. multiple owners, multiple managers, multiple heads of departments, etc.), they could end up with more than 25% total people needing to be Fear Free Certified® and have active memberships to be eligible for Practice Certification.
Fear Free will round up non-whole numbers. A practice with 5 FTE veterinarians would need a minimum of 4 to be Fear Free Certified® and have active memberships.
5/2= 2.5 +1= 3.5, round up to 4.
If you have multiple PT veterinarians, their average weekly hours will be added up and divided by 35 to determine how many FTE they equal.
Yes, each physical location must go through the process independently. They must each meet the eligibility requirements, pay the $500 non-refundable deposit, and successfully complete the onsite visit.
Your Group Leader will have access to the online self-assessment via his or her Practice Certification Dashboard for one (1) year. HOWEVER, if your self-assessment is submitted more than 90 days after your application is approved, you may be required to renew some individual memberships to remain eligible for Practice Certification. For additional information, click HERE.
It will depend in part how far along you are in implementing the standards when you apply. The further along you are, the faster you will be able to complete and submit your online self-assessment. Once your self-assessment is approved by Fear Free, you will be given a minimum of three (3) dates to choose from to schedule your onsite visit. At least one (1) of those dates will be within a 60-day window from when your self-assessment is approved.
If an individual’s membership expires, s/he will receive renewal notifications via email. If you are in your 90-day Grace Period, you do not need to renew anyone to remain eligible for Practice Certification. Expired members will not have access to the website.
Clicking that submit button is a big step! Not to worry, if any information needs clarification or is missing, the Practice Certification Manager will schedule a consultation with you and together you will create a plan to keep you moving forward.
In the unfortunate event a practice does not successfully complete the onsite visit, Fear Free is committed to working with the practice until they are able to implement all the standards and achieve Practice Certification. If a second onsite visit is required, an additional $500 fee will apply.
The annual Practice Certification fee is $500 + $200 per FTE veterinarian. An FTE veterinarian is defined as working an average of >35 hours per week. If you have multiple PT veterinarians, their average weekly hours will be added up and divided by 35 to determine how many FTE they equal. The annual fee is capped at $3500.
When you register for practice certification, you pay a non-refundable $500 deposit via credit card. Once a practice achieves certification, the Group Leader will receive an invoice for the remaining balance of $200 per FTE veterinarian. An FTE veterinarian is defined as working an average of >35 hrs. per week. If you have multiple PT veterinarians, their average weekly hours will be added up and divided by 35 to determine how many FTE they equal. The annual fee is capped at $3,500.
Yes. The annual renewal fee is $500 + $200 per FTE veterinarian. An FTE veterinarian is defined as working an average of >35 hours per week. If you have multiple PT veterinarians, their average weekly hours will be added up and divided by 35 to determine how many FTE they equal. The annual fee is capped at $3500.
One of the best benefits of achieving Practice Certification is that all your team members receive a Fear Free membership. The annual Practice Certification fee takes the place of individual membership purchases and renewals.
Your Fear Free membership has expired but there is still time to renew and continue with your Fear Free continued education.
Please contact our customer experience team at wags@fearfreepets.com or call us at 303.952.0585 and we will be happy to assist!
If you are a group member, please let your group leader know your account needs to be renewed.
Your Fear Free membership has expired… now what?
Your group leader can coordinate purchasing and applying the renewal to your account.
OR
You can purchase the renewal yourself, which will extend your membership for another year, apply it directly to your account through the cart in the top right corner.
Why?
Renewing and keeping an active membership is one of the requirements to maintaining your certification as well as access to member benefits.
Need help! Please contact our Customer Experience team at wags@fearfreepets.com or call us at 303.952.0585 and we will be happy to assist!
Your Fear Free membership has expired…now what?
Go to the cart in the top right corner to purchase renewals for yourself as well as your team. You can find details on your group members’ renewal dates on the Manage My Team page.
Why?
Renewing and keeping an active membership is one of the requirements to maintaining your certification as well as access to member benefits.
Need help? Please contact our Customer Experience team at wags@fearfreepets.com or call us at 303.952.0585 and we will be happy to assist!
Your Fear Free membership has expired…now what?
Go to the cart in the top right corner to purchase your renewal, which will extend your membership for another year.
Why?
Renewing and keeping an active membership is one of the requirements to maintaining your certification as well as access to member benefits.
Need help? Please contact our customer experience team at wags@fearfreepets.com or call us at 303.952.0585 and we will be happy to assist!